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RAIL AND WATER SERIES. 


BOOKS FOR BOYS. 

Bv KIRK MUNROE. 


Under Orders: The Story of a Young Reporter. 
Prince Dusty : A Story of the Oil Regions. 

Cab and Caboose : A Story of Railroad Life. 

The Coral Ship : A Story of the Florida Reefs. 

$1.25 


Each i2mo. Illustrated 






































































































RAIL AND WATER SERIES 


THE CORAL SHIP 

A STORY OF THE FLORIDA REEF 


BY 

KIRK MUNROE 

\ * 

AUTHOR OF “UNDER ORDERS,” U PRINCE DUSTY,” 44 CAB AND CABOOSE,” 
44 THE FLAMINGO FEATHER,” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK LONDON 

27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND 

Jinuherboektr |press 

*893 



C\ *2 CHV 

■ * - 2 - 




COPYRIGHT, 1893 
BY 


KIRK MUNROE 

Entered at Stationers’ Hall , London, 
By G. P. Putnam’s Sons 


Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by 

Ube Iktrtcfeerbocfccr press, IRew JtJorfe 

G. P. Putnam’s Sons 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER page 

I. — On Board the “Aztec,” Galleon . . i 

II. — A Night of Terror 9 

III. — Black Caesar. 16 

IV. — Gale Ellicot’s Discovery . . . .24 

V. — Debt and Its Terrors 34 

VI. — The Young Mate’s Temptation . . .41 

VII. — Aleck Penrose, Cabin Boy . . . • 51 

VIII. — Cruising among Tropic Islands . . .59 

IX. — Abandoned at Sea 69 

X. — Escaping from the Wreck . . . .77 

XI. — On Black Cesar's Island . . . .86 

XII. — Mysterious Disappearance of Aleck’s 

Companions 95 

XIII. — Safety underneath the Sea . . . 104 

XIV. — Aleck’s Marvellous Discovery . . .112 

XV. — Golden Oysters 122 

XVI. — The Turning of the Tide .... 131 

iii 


IV 


CONTENTS . 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. — Sixty Pebbles Mark One Hour . . 136 

XVIII. — Aleck’s Friendship is Tested . . . 142 

XIX — A Brave Coward 148 

XX. — Feathered Hunters Fetch a Dinner . 155 
XXI. — Gale Loses Aleck and Aleck Loses Gale . 160 
XXII. — A Proof of Caesar’s Death .... 166 

XXIII. — Captured by Indians 173 

XXIV. — A Night at Sea on an Overturned 


Canoe 179 

XXV. — Negro, Canoe, Shark, and Turtle . . 185 

XXVI. — Cesar as a Mermaid 192 

XXVII. — On Board the Schooner “Shark” . . 199 

XXVIII. — The Owner of the “ Egret ”... 206 

XXIX. — Caesar as a Soldier 213 

XXX. — First Fire and Then Challenge . . 220 

XXXI. — A Golden Vase from the Coral Ship . 228 
XXXII. — Gale Outwits the Indians .... 23s 


XXXIII. — Joy Treads on the Heels of Despair. 
XXXIV. — How Black Cesar’s Pledge was Re- 


deemed 


254 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

A Wrecked Galleon ..... Frontispiece 

Gale Reading the Manuscript 30 

“ Nothing Dishonest, only a Little Risky ” .50 

f< The Rescue of Caesar 68 

Stranded on the Reef 76 

“A Black Figure Flung Itself on Its Knees before 

Him ” 84 

“ Then all Hands Set to Work ” .... 88 

“There Came a Great Rush of Water and the Lad 

was Drenched to the Skin ” .... 100 

“He Stopped to Examine their Fish-Trap” . . 106 
Gale and Aleck Discover the Coral Ship . . .112 
“ Gale ! Gale ! Oh, He is Dead ! He is Dead ! ” . . 168 

“ He Leaped from the Canoe and Landed Squarely 

on the Turtle’s Back ” 190 

“Who Comes Dar?” 226 

Now IT IS ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY 244 








I N the harbor of Vera Cruz lay a goodly fleet of 
tall ships. From every masthead flags and 
streamers were fluttering in the light morning 
breeze, while above each towering poop drooped a 
broad banner that, with languid movements, dis- 
closed the royal arms of Spain. Loosened sails 
hung from the heavy yards, and numberless small 
boats passed swiftly to and fro, over the sparkling 
waters, between the ships and the shore, laden with 
passengers and their personal effects, with small 
stores, and with the innumerable things that must 


2 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


be taken aboard every ship at the last moment be- 
fore sailing. It was the annual treasure fleet bound 
for Spain, freighted with the products of a year’s 
labor in the Mexican mines, with golden vessels and 
silver plate from hundreds of Aztec temples, with 
pearls from the west coast, with chests of gorgeous 
feather robes stripped from the bodies of Indian 
chiefs, and even with Indians themselves, men, 
women, and children torn from their happy homes 
to be carried across the wide ocean for the amuse- 
ment of an idle populace io the cities of their con- 
querors. Besides this rich freight, the spoil of one 
of the richest countries that the New World had 
yielded to the crown of Spain, the treasure fleet 
bore many passengers. There were soldiers who 
had acquired fortunes in the Aztec land that they 
hoped to enjoy in their own country, priests charged 
with the duty of conveying the spoils of heathen 
temples to Spanish churches, prisoners of war 
claimed as heretics by the Inquisition, and going to 
Spain for their trial — which, unless they forswore 
their faith, would end at the rack or stake. 

In the great cabin of the Santa Magdalena , the 
Admiral’s ship, sat the portly Bishop of Vera Cruz, 


ON BOARD THE “AZTEC" GALLEON. 


3 


recalled to Spain on business connected with the 
Church. As he sat in a stuffed easy-chair, fanned 
by an Indian slave lad, he grumbled at the hard 
fate that dragged him from the ease and comforts of 
his New World surroundings, and compelled him to 
undertake so long and tedious a voyage. In this 
mood he found fault with everybody and everything 
about him. The young Indian who waited upon him 
trembled at his harsh words, and even the Admiral 
himself wished that courtesy did not compel him to 
remain an unwilling listener to the Bishop’s com- 
plainings. 

u Thirteen galleons be they, Don Hernando ? ” 
growled the Bishop. “ Thirteen, no more and no 
less ? I wonder that you could not have provided 
other than this unlucky number. The saints have 
indeed just cause for displeasure against one who so 
openly defies them, and I doubt if even my presence 
and prayers will avail to avert mishap.” 

“ More ships are not to be had, your Holiness,” 
answered the Admiral; “nor would one less hold 
the treasure that the King demands. You may see 
for yourself that all are laden beyond the limit; and 
to leave one behind would endanger the safety of all.” 


4 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“Not so greatly as thy safety and — which is of 
greater importance — mine own, are endangered by 
the unlucky number, Don Hernando,” replied the 
Bishop, testily ; “ and, as I live, you have placed this 
ship in the greatest peril of all by crowding her 
cabin with thirteen passengers.” 

“ There were but twelve, your Holiness, until this 
very morning, when you insisted upon adding Fray 
Agrippa to the number of those who wait upon 
you.” 

“ What then ! ” exclaimed the Bishop, his dark 
face flushing with anger. “Would you have me 
travel with a less number of attendants than be- 
comes my station? Have you no respect for the 
Church and her representatives? Fray Agrippa is 
a necessity to me and must remain; but another 
may be spared, and I command that you transfer 
the dog of an Englishman from this ship to some 
other.” 

The Englishman thus insultingly referred to was 
Sir Richard Allanson, a brave seaman, whose ship 
had been captured many months before, after a gal- 
lant fight with an entire Spanish fleet. The sur- 
vivors of his crew had beeu scattered to the galleys, 


ON BOARD THE “AZTEC,” GALLEON. 5 

the mines, or other places where they might suffer 
the fullest effects of Spanish cruelty, while he had 
been thrown into a dungeon of the castle at Vera 
Cruz to be reserved for ransom. Word was at last 
received that the sum demanded had been raised by 
his friends, aud would be paid upon the safe delivery 
of the prisoner at Seville. So he had this day been 
released from his sunless prison, and now, w^eak and 
pale from long confinement, he occupied a berth on 
the Santa Magdalena. His mind was full of con- 
flicting emotions, as he lay concealed by a curtain 
from the other occupants of the cabin ; but listening 
to aud understanding every word of their conversa- 
tion. Pie hardly dared believe that he was really 
on his way towards liberty and home. He was 
fearful lest something might still interfere to dash 
his hopes, and above all he was disgusted to find 
that he was to make the long voyage in company 
with the Spanish Bishop who, during his imprison- 
ment, had been his chief tormentor and persecutor. 

Thus when he heard the Admiral, who, brave 
man though he was, dared not dispute the Bishop’s 
commands, order his transfer to the Aztec , a galleon 
that lay at anchor near the Santa Magdalena , he 


6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


gladly made ready to leave the hated presence, and 
felt that fortune was about to favor him after all. . 

The transfer of the prisoner from the Admiral’s 
ship to the Aztec (where, by the way, he was most 
ungraciously received by her captain, who cordially 
detested all Englishmen) had scarcely been made, 
when the tide served and a gun from the castle of 
San Juan de Ulloa announced the hour of departure. 
Anchors were weighed, sails sheeted home, and 
amid the booming of guns, the fanfare of trumpets, 
and the chanting of priests, the treasure fleet stood 
out to sea, its homeward voyage begun. 

Favored by gentle breezes, the heavily laden gal- 
leons sailed slowly but safely across the Gulf of 
Mexico to the island of Cuba ; where, in the harbor 
of Havana, they lay for several days. Here the 
Admiral received despatches, and took on board 
several more distinguished passengers ; while on the 
already over-crowded Aztec were stowed, in stifling 
quarters, between decks, some fifty negro slaves, 
whose owner had decided to remove them to Spain. 
These wretched beings, chained to stout wooden 
beams, were packed so closely as to find barely 
room to lie down, and their scanty allowance of food 


ON BOARD THE “AZTEC” GALLEON. 


7 


was thrown to them once a day as though they had 
been so many wild animals. And yet there were 
women and young children among them. Their 
sufferings so moved the pity of Sir .Richard, hard- 
ened as he had become to suffering and torture of 
every description, that he appealed to the captain of 
the Aztec to relieve it in a measure by allowing 
certain of them to come on deck each day, and to 
furnish them with a larger supply of drinking water. 
Of this there was an abundance on board ; but with 
a degree of cruelty that found its keenest pleasure 
in the sufferings of others, the brutal Spaniard 
caused to be doled out each day to the wretches be- 
tween decks, only such drops of the precious fluid 
as would save them from dying of thirst. 

For answer to Sir Richard’s appeal the captain 
merely bowed, shrugged his shoulders, and turned 
on his heel ; while the sufferings of the slaves who 
had so sadly fallen into his hands were, if possible, 
increased. One day Sir Richard, looking down the 
open hatch at the negroes, saw one of them, a 
gigantic man, taller by a head than any of his fel- 
lows, holding in his arms a child who, with closed 
eyes, was moaning piteously. Catching Sir Richard’s 


8 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


eye the man murmured the single word “Agua” 
(water). The Englishman could not resist the 
appeal, and a moment later, with a bottle of water 
in his hand, he had entered the foul place and the 
child was drinking with eager gulps. For this act 
Sir Richard was roughly seized by two soldiers who, 
by the captain’s orders, dragged him to his cabin, 
into which he was thrust with scant ceremony, and 
the door bolted behind him. Thus for his deed of 
mercy he was destined to close imprisonment for all 
the weeks that should elapse before a Spanish port 
could be reached. But that Providence which rules 
the seas and the lives of men ordered otherwise. 


CHAPTER II. 


A NIGHT OF TERROR. 

T HE weather of that day was intensely hot and 
breathless. There had been no breeze in the 
morning, and that of the afternoon came only in 
whirling gusts that dappled the surface of the water 
with dark patches, but did little towards aiding the 
progress of the fleet. At the same time the sea was 
heaved by great swells that caused the deeply 
laden galleons to roll so violently that they were in 
danger of losing their masts. From a brazen sky 
the sun’s rays beat down so fiercely that the pitch 
on the decks melted and broke into little bubbles. 
Even the Spanish sailors, accustomed as they were 
to tropical weather, were prostrated by the terrible 
heat. It parched their tongues, and it blistered 
their skins whenever they left the shaded places in 
which they lay most of the time, panting and mut- 
tering curses against all things. With such suffer- 
9 


10 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


ings on deck, those endured by the chained prisoners 
beneath it were indescribably greater, and their state 
of torment was evidenced by gasping moans that 
could be heard throughout the ship, from end to end. 
Even Sir Richard in his sweltering cabin, longing 
for the cool dampness of the dungeon in which he 
had been so long confined, heard them and chided 
himself for murmuring at his own condition when 
other human beings were in so much worse plight. 

As the day drew toward its close and the blessed 
relief of darkness was promised, even the furnace- 
like gusts of air that had occasionally bellied the 
sails ceased to be felt. An utter silence, only broken 
by the groaning of the ship, as she rolled heavily on 
the ever increasing swell, and by the moanings of 
her living freight, fell upon the ocean. Still the 
galleons were in motion, for the strong current of 
the Gulf Stream was bearing them steadily forward 
on their course, and they had almost passed the long 
chain of islands known as the “ Isles of Martyrs,” 
which with their outlying network of coral reefs 
bound the southern coast of Florida. This was the 
most dangerous portion of the entire voyage between 
Mexico and Spain, and the frame of many a golden- 


A NIGHT OF TERROR. 


I 


freighted galleon already lay bleaching in the white 
caves of the Martyrs’ Isles. For some reason, prob- 
ably because in a light breeze she was unusually 
sluggish of movement, the Aztec was far behind the 
rest of the fleet and also nearer to the dreaded reefs 
than were any of the others. 

Such was the state of affairs when the sun, like a 
huge globe of molten copper, sank into the sea. 
For a while an angry light glowed in the western 
sky, and then it was overspread as by a pall. The 
few stars that came into view were blotted out one 
after another, until the whole world was shrouded 
in a blackness so intense that it seemed suffocating. 

Matters continued in this wise until nearly mid- 
night ; when, without a warning, the blackness was 
pierced by a fearful flash of lightning, accompanied 
by so terrific a burst of thunder that the Spaniards 
flung themselves face downwards on the decks, 
crying that the end of the world had come. Great 
drops of hot rain fell hissing into the sea ; while the 
electric fluid flashed athwart the sky in one con- 
tinuous sheet of blinding white light. So unbroken 
and tremendous was the crash of its accompanying 
thunder that even the roar of the approaching hurri- 


12 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


cane was unheard, and the blast, sweeping down 
upon the doomed galleon, was unnoted until it 
struck her. Unprepared to receive it, and uncon- 
trolled by her helm, she bent beneath the mighty 
weight of the wind, until the water poured in over 
her high bulwarks, and a piercing cry arose that she 
was about to founder. 

At that moment a straining shroud snapped like 
a harp string, there came a rending crash of wood, 
and the mainmast went by the board, dragging the 
others with it in its ruin. Thus relieved, the ship 
righted and drove, a helpless wreck, before the 
hurricane. Long ere this the treacherous in-shore 
current had seized her, and had been drawing her, 
with ever increasing strength, toward the cruel white 
reefs. Now, urged in the same direction by the 
rushing wind, the stricken ship wallowed toward 
her fate. In less than an hour she struck with an 
awful shock, and a huge sea curling over her side 
swept half her company into the seething waters. 
Then she lifted, swung round, and struck again, this 
time with her bows pointing seaward. Here she re- 
mained fixed ; though it seemed as if each blow of 
the furious sea must rend her strong frame in pieces. 


A NIGHT OF TERROR. 


13 


The survivors of the crew made a mad rush for 
the boats. Several of them were stove and useless ; 
but three were found to be still serviceable, and 
these were finally launched under the protecting lee 
of the towering poop. At the last moment the 
Spanish captain bethought himself of the English 
prisoner, whose life was worth saving on account of 
its ransom. He sprang below, hastily drew the 
bolt of Sir Richard’s door, threw it open, and bade 
the Englishman follow him if he valued his life. 

During the last terrible hour Sir Richard’s prac- 
tised ear had kept him well informed of what was 
taking place. He had abandoned all hope of escape 
from the first, and the shock of the ship’s striking 
found him on his knees, calmly commending his 
soul to its Maker, and preparing to meet death like 
a Christian gentleman and a brave sailor. Nor had 
his thoughts and prayers been wholly devoted to his 
own condition. He remembered, with a mighty pity, 
the black wretches, whose piercing shrieks rang in 
his ears, as, chained and helpless, they awaited a like 
fate with himself. 

As Sir Richard’s door was flung open, a momen- 
tary gleam of hope entered his breast, and he quickly 


14 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


followed the captain to the deck. There the latter 
bade him lay hold upon the rope that held one of the 
boats and slip down into it ; but the Englishman 
hesitated. A flash of lightning showed him that the 
remnant of the crew did not nearly fill the boats, and 
that there was room for as many more. 

“ The slaves ! ” he shouted in the captain’s ear. 
“ Are you going to leave them ? ” 

“Death and Furies! Yes!” cried the .captain. 
“Of course we leave them. Would you have me 
overload the boats with the black cattle \ In with 
you or I will leave you with them ! ” 

“ Then leave me,” answered Sir Richard, calmly. 
“ If they are black, they are yet human, and no Eng- 
lishman would save his own life at the expense of 
others.” 

“ P or Dios! Your miserable carcass shall be 
saved for what it is worth, whether you will or not ! ” 
screamed the Spaniard, furiously, as he sprang upon 
the Englishman with the intention of pitching him 
into one of the boats. Then ensued a struggle the 
like of which has seldom been recorded. Two bitter 
enemies fought, one to save the life of the other, and 
one to prevent his own from being saved. They 


A NIGHT OF TERROR. 


15 


used no weapons, but, locked in a close embrace, 
they reeled to and fro on the wave-washed deck, 
each trying to force the other over the stern. Sir 
Richard had by no means recovered his full strength 
or the Spaniard would have speedily been worsted 
in the wrestling match. As it was he was slowly 
but surely forcing the Englishman to the rail. They 
overhung it, and in another instant he would have 
accomplished his purpose. 

Suddenly, as the Englishman was about to give 
way, a yell as of a wild beast sounded behind them, 
and a crashing blow descended on the head of the 
Spanish captain. Then his limp body was seized, 
held aloft for an instant, and hurled far out into the 
raging waters. 

Those in the boats hastily cut the ropes that held 
them to the wreck of the galleon, and in a moment 
the three frail craft were swept out of sight, never to 
be heard of more. As they disappeared, a gigantic 
black figure towered above the storm-swept deck 
and uttered cry after cry of such unhuman wildness 
that they fittingly blended with the shrieks of the 
hurricane. At the feet of this figure lay the English- 
man, Sir Richard Allanson, to all appearance dead. 


CHAPTER III. 


BLACK CAESAR. 

T HE gigantic negro who had so opportunely 
come to Sir Richard’s rescue, was known as 
“ Black Caesar.” He had been chief of his tribe in 
his own country, and although many years had 
elapsed since he had been torn from it and driven 
to the barracoons, his authority was still undisputed 
by those of his own race who had accompanied him 
into slavery. His relentless fury against his op- 
pressors and his enormous strength rendered him a 
terror to his Spanish masters, and they had exercised 
every species of cruelty upon him in the hope of 
breaking his spirit. His body was covered with 
brands from hot irons, with welts from the driver’s 
lash, with scars from cuts, and with wounds of every 
description, including those made by the teeth of 
savage dogs ; but Black Caesar had never yielded. 
His spirit was still unsubdued, and he still walked 

16 


BLACK CAESAR. 


7 


as erect and defiant toward all men, as when in his 
native African forests. He would long since have 
been killed as being too dangerous a piece of prop- 
erty to own, but for one thing. In all the Spanish 
islands there was not his equal as a tamer of wild 
cattle. He would seize the fiercest bull by the horns 
and overthrow him with a single movement of his 
mighty arms. Such was the terror he inspired in the 
wild creatures that after one of them had felt the 
black man’s power he was henceforth submissive to 
his will, no matter how fierce he might be with 
others. 

Black Caesar’s last owner, a Spanish grandee who 
had been Adelantado of Cuba, had, upon being re- 
called to Spain, conceived the idea of taking him to 
Madrid, and there placing him in the arena as a mata- 
dor, or bull-fighter. Now Black Caesar had one child, 
a boy five years of age, whom he called Kabele, and 
this child was the one object in all the world that 
the man cared for. The boy’s mother was dead, and 
upon him the fierce father lavished the whole wealth 
of his affections. A kindness to his boy called forth 
such gratitude that he was certain to return it in 
some way. On the other hand, did the child suffer 


1 8 THE CORAL SHIP. 

from a suspicion of ill-treatment, the father was 
roused to such fury that he became a terror to all 
about him. An effort had been made to leave the 
child behind, when it was decided to send the father 
to fight with Spanish bulls; but Black Caesar, with 
the boy in his arms, had defied any one to take him 
away, and no one was found bold enough to make 
the attempt. So while the Adelantado found lux- 
urious quarters on board the Santa Magdalena , his 
huge slave, still holding the child, submitted to be 
chained between decks on the Aztec. It was the 
life of his boy that Sir Richard Allanson saved when 
he defied the wrath of the Spanish captain and car- 
ried Kabele the blessed water, for want of which he 
was dying. 

From the time that the hurricane first struck the 
Aztec , Black Caesar had made furious efforts to break 
his bonds. He succeeded in wrenching apart his 
fetters ; but could not break the chain, that, as an 
extra precaution, had been fastened to an iron collar 
about his neck. At last when the ship struck, her 
frame was so broken that the timber about which 
this chain was passed worked loose, and the giant, 
tearing it from its place, found himself free. He 


BLACK CsESAR. 


19 


rushed on deck to discover the exact condition of 
affairs, and found that the ship was deserted, while 
he and his companions had been left to perish misera- 
bly in their chains. His rage knew no bounds. 
Suddenly a flash of lightning revealed two strug- 
gling figures at the extreme after-end of the poop 
deck, and seizing an axe from a stand at the foot of 
the broken mainmast, the negro sprang toward them. 
Feeling certain that they were Spaniards and there- 
fore enemies, he would have killed them both, had 
not another flash disclosed the white face of the 
Englishman who had that day saved the life of his 
child. 

To dispose of the Spanish captain as already de- 
scribed, was but the work of a moment. As he 
disappeared over the ship’s side the huge negro, 
towering to his full height, and with uplifted arms, 
screamed defiance to the hurricane and to his human 
enemies, with the barbaric battle-cry of his people. 

All at once his mood changed ; he ceased his 
wild chant, and stooping, he lifted Sir Richard with 
infinite tenderness, and bore him to a spot sheltered 
from the force of the wind and waves. Then he 
brought the child Kabele, and placing him beside 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


20 

his benefactor, bade him watch the unconscious man 
while lie liberated his fellow-captives. 

When the Englishman became again thoroughly 
conscious of his surroundings, daylight was break- 
ing, the force of the storm had sensibly diminished, 
and a confused group of black faces was anxiously 
watching him. As soon as he was able to sit up 
and talk, the giant negro, whom he recognized as 
the one who had asked him for water on the preced- 
ing day, approached him. Kneeling on the deck 
and placing Sir Richard’s hand upon his own head 
the negro said, in Spanish “ White man, you saved 
the life of my Kabele. For that, my life is yours, 
and Black Caesar is your slave forever. These others 
will obey me, and what you tell us that will we do.” 

“ Black man, or ‘ Black Caesar ’ if such be your 
name,” answered Sir Richard, faintly, “ if you have 
cause for gratitude to me it is but slight. When 
human beings are thrown together in such desperate 
plight as ours, there can be no master and no slave ; 
but all must share alike. However, if you come to 
me for advice, that will I cheerfully give to the best 
of my poor ability, when I shall have considered the 
bearings of our situation.” 


BLACK CAESAR. 


21 


They brought Sir Richard drink and food of which 
he stood greatly in need, and by which his strength 
was marvellously restored. When the sun rose they 
saw a low-lying coast about a league from them, and 
directly in the track of the wind as it was then blow- 
ing. AVhile the sea still beat with great fury on 
the reef where they were, and at times dashed high 
over the wrecked galleon, the water between them 
and the land was comparatively smooth. They 
could discover no signs of the boats, nor yet of the 
other ships of the fleet. 

AVhile Sir Richard examined into the condition of 
the vessel as well as he was able the blacks watched 
his movements with eager interest. There were of 
them twenty-two men, ten women, and one child, Ka- 
bele. The rest lay dead in their loathsome prison- 
house, between decks, or had been washed overboard. 
At length the Englishman spoke to Black Csesar, who 
had silently followed him about the ship, and said : 

“It is a marvel to me that this craft has withstood 
the buffetings of the sea so long ; but certain it is, 
that if she remains here she must go to pieces sooner 
or later. The tide appears to me to be flowing, and 
with this gale it should bean extra high one. There 


22 


, THE CORAL SHIP. 


is a possibility that, if the ship could be floated over 
the reef into smooth water, she might remain on top 
long enough to bear us to yonder land, short of 
which I can see no chance of our salvation. Set 
your fellows to work then, and let them cast over- 
board all guns, anchors, chains, and whatever else of 
weight they can lay hands upon.” 

The negroes, who had only waited directions, 
sprang to this work with a will. Their labor was 
now for themselves, for their own lives and freedom, 
and they performed it with an alacrity such as the 
driver’s lash had never inspired. Overboard went 
the grinning cannon, through open ports, or through 
jagged openings cut in the high bulwarks. The an- 
chors were cut away ; tiers of weighty chain cable 
were overhauled and dropped into the sea ; every 
heavy and movable thing that could be got at was 
made to follow. At length the galleon was relieved 
of many tons of weight and her uneasy movements 
gave signs that she was almost afloat. 

“ She moves ! She floats ! ” shouted Sir Richard 
at last, as, with the send of a great sea, the ship was 
lifted clear of the bottom and carried some fifty 
yards up the reef. “ Oh, for a boat,” he added, 
“ that we might aid her progress with a kedge ! ” 


BLACK CAESAR. 


23 


But there was no need of this. The tide still 
rose, slowly but surely, and the movement of the 
ship was continued. Finally, after many haltings 
and bumpings, after scrapings that threatened to 
tear the planking from her bottom, and forward 
plunges that shook her from stem to stern, the Aztec 
slid clear of the reef, into the smooth, deep water on 
its inner side. 

At this happy result of their efforts the negroes 
yelled with delight ; while Sir Richard’s satisfaction 
found vent in a cheery “ Hurrah ! ” He added a 
fervent hope that the “ old gold mine ” might still 
be sound enough to bear th6m across the channel in 
which they were now floating and plant herself 
safely on some sandy beach. This hope was, how- 
ever, doomed to disappointment ; for it was soon 
evident that the galleon was leaking so badly that 
ere long she must go to the bottom. The negroes 
were panic-stricken at this discovery ; and while 
some of them broke into loud wailings, others 
awaited their fate with expressions of dull apathy. 
Black Caesar sternly ordered the cries to cease, and 
turned to Sir Richard for orders. 


CHAPTER IV. 


GALE ELLICOT’S DISCOVERY. 

HERE is but one thing for it, Caesar,” said the 



X Englishman, in answer to the black man’s in- 
quiring look, “ and that is a raft. It must be made 
quickly too, for this old hooker will soon be down 
among the mermaids, whose company, I, for one, 
have no wish to seek Sooner than I can help. So 
look lively and send some of your spry lads over 
the side to lash those spars together. It is a mercy 
that we did not cut them adrift, for they are our 
only hope.” 

The masts and yards that had gone by the board, 
at the first blast of the hurricane, still floated along- 
side, attached to the 'ship by a confused tangle of 
rigging. To clear this, to cut away the soaked and 
dragging sails from the yards, to lash the masts 
together with the yards across them, to lay a flooring 
of hatches, planks ripped from the bulwarks, and 


24 


GALE ELLI COT'S DISCO VER V. 2$ 

such other material as they could lay hands upon, 
was the work of the succeeding hour. At its end 
the galleon, which had been steadily drifting toward 
land and was now within half a mile of it, had sunk 
so low in the water that it was evidently high time 
to leave her. Among the things hastily transferred 
to the raft were a few casks of provisions, a chest of 
tools, several axes, a plentiful supply of powder and 
ball, and all the muskets that could be found. 
Besides these each of the negroes was armed with a 
cutlass, and several of them had secured pistols ; for 
they knew not what enemies they might encounter 
on the island they were approaching. 

They had no time to search for the treasure of 
gold and silver, with which Sir Bichard knew the 
ship to be laden. Even had they found it they 
could not have taken it with them. With their own 
weight added to that of the cargo piled upon it 
the clumsy craft to which they must entrust them- 
selves was already level with the water and would 
bear no more. After cutting loose from the galleon 
they were surprised to see her drift in one direction 
while they were carried in another. It was evident 
to Sir Bichard that the wreck was impelled by some 


2 6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


strong under-current that was setting it directly 
towards shore, but which they did not feel ; while 
the wind and a surface current were bearing them 
toward an opening in the land that resembled the 
mouth of a liver. 

Being so low in the water the occupants of the 
raft soon lost sight of the galleon, and knew not 
when she took her final plunge to the bottom ; nor 
did they much care, as their own condition was of 
more immediate importance. When last seen she 
was close in to a bold rocky shore, and Sir Bichard 
took a mental note of the place with the vague 
thought that, at some future time, it might be worth 
while to attempt the recovery of some of the lost 
treasure by diving at that point. 

In a very short time the raft was carried into 
what they had taken for the mouth of a river; it 
proved, however, to be a creek separating two 
islands, and pouring the tide- water with great velocity 
into a broad bay that opened beyond them. They 
would have been swept through the creek and into 
the bay, had not Black Caesar sprung overboard and 
swum ashore with the end of a line that he made 
fast to a tree and thus arrested their progress. 


GALE ELLI COT'S DISCOVERY. 


27 


It was with mingled emotions of thankfulness, 
fear, and curiosity that this band of black men, 
whose slavery had been so miraculously exchanged 
for freedom, and the white man to whom they 
looked for guidance, stepped ashore on one of the 
fairest isles of the southern seas. It was of singular 
beauty, though of limited extent, being not more 
than half a mile broad, by about a mile in length. 
It was wholly formed of coral rock, though its height 
above the water in the centre showed it to have 
been at some time subject to the effects of an earth- 
quake or some other uplifting force of nature. 
While much of its shore line was concealed beneath 
a dense thicket of mangrove, there arose behind 
these a tall forest of stately trees. Encircled by 
this forest the survivors of the Aztec discovered a 
small lake, or pond, of fresh water as clear as glass, 
and fed by a great spring, boiling up from a central 
basin of white coral that gleamed like marble in the 
sunlight. From the lake a narrow stream ran down 
to the shore, and at certain stages of the tide, shoals 
of mullet and other salt-water fish made their way 
up this stream for a holiday in the coral basin. 

In this beautiful place on the edge of the pond, 


28 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


and in the shadow of a grove of tall cocoanut palms, 
Black Caesar and his companions, following Sir 
Bichard’s advice, built themselves huts of palmetto 
thatch, and surrounded them with a stockade of 
stout posts bound together with the tough cables of 
the rattan vine. 

Here Sir Richard lived for several years, with only 
these rude associates for company. They regarded 
him with such love and reverence that his slightest 
word was law, and his influence over them was un- 
bounded. He instructed them, so far as he was 
able, in the arts of civilization ; but with the limited 
means at his disposal, the progress made in this di- 
rection was small. Although he made several 
efforts to discover the wreck of the Aztec, in hopes 
of obtaining many useful articles from it, he could 
find no trace of the lost ship. In these searches his 
negro friends could not be induced to lend any 
assistance, so filled were they with a superstitious 
dread of the ill-fated vessel in which they had suf- 
fered so greatly. By means of an English ship that 
struck on the great reef, but which the crew, assisted 
by him and his faithful blacks, succeeded in getting 
off almost unharmed, Si] 1 Richard finally escaped 


GALE ELL I COT'S DISCOVERY. 


2 9 


from the island and reached the home that he had 
well-nigh despaired of ever seeing again. After his 
departure from among them the negroes, no longer 
restrained by his influence, became first wreckers, 
then pirates ; and for many years the name of Black 
Caesar was the terror of that coast. At length his 
depredations ceased and he was heard of no more ; 
but his fate is involved in mystery, and it is not 
known what became of him. 

The foregoing incident of Sir Bichard Allanson’s 
life is writ out by his son Hugh for the benefit of 
his children, that they may know what manner of 
man their ancestor was, and that they may learn to 
imitate the noble qualities that has stamped him as 
a hero and a Christian gentleman. 

This was the end of the MS. which Gale Ellicot 
one day discovered in the little, old-fashioned, brass- 
nailed trunk that he had gone to the attic to empty 
of its musty papers and bring down stairs. It was 
evidently of a long-ago date ; for, though the hand- 
writing was bold and clear, the ink was so faded as 
to be in places almost illegible, and the sheets on 
which it was written were torn and yellowed by 


30 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


time. The youth who now sat holding them in his 
hand, and absorbed in the reflections aroused by 
what he had just read, was a squarely built, bright- 
eyed fellow of about seventeen. His well-shaped 
hands were hard and brown, while his resolute 
young face also bore evidences of a reckless exposure 
to sun, wind, and weather. At length he was 
aroused from his reverie by the sound of a voice 
from below, calling: 

“ Gale ! Gale ! What has become of you ? Why 
don’t you bring the trunk down stairs ? ” 

“ Coming, mother,” replied the boy, and thrusting 
his new-found treasure into his pocket, he shouldered 
the empty trunk, and left the attic with it. 

. That evening after the trunk was packed with h;s 
own things, and the children had gone to bed, Gale 
Ellicot and his mother sat together in the living 
room of their tiny cottage for a long last talk. The 
boy was to leave the next day to be gone for several 
months, or longer than he had ever before been 
away from home. How dear even the shabby furni- 
ture looked at that moment. On the table stood a 
lamp that had been bought with the very first money 
he had ever earned. The arm-chair in which he sat 



GALE READING THE MANUSCRIPT. 



% 




. 

V* 






























GALE ELLI COT'S DISCOVERY. 3 1 

had been his father’s. Nearly every article in the 
room had some tender association clinging to it. 
Outside, the wind howled dismally, and a cold No- 
vember rainstorm beat against the window panes ; 
but it only added to the warmth within and to the 
brightness of the driftwood fire that blazed, with 
many tinted flames, on the open hearth. The dan- 
cing firelight disguised the shabbiness of the room, 
which would have been painfully disclosed by day ; 
for, in spite of the apparent comfort of their sur- 
roundings, the Ellicots were very poor. Even the 
driftwood fire, which is so often an evidence of 
wealth and luxury, was one of the signs of their 
poverty, and the wood pile in the kitchen shed 
represented many a toilsome day spent by Gale upon 
the beach. 

Five years before, the boy’s father, who had been 
a minister in the seaport village of Rockpine on the 
Maine coast, had died, and ever since the Ellicots’ 
struggle for existence had been a bitter one. Be- 
sides Mrs. Ellicot and Gale there was blue-eyed 
May, two years younger than he, and sturdy little 
John, who was twelve years old and always hungry. 
From the first Gale had done all that he could for 


32 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


the support of the family. He had run errands, 
worked in gardens, gathered driftwood, taken sum- 
mer visitors out sailing, formed one of the crew of a 
fishing vessel, and, during the summer just past, he 
had been boatswain of the schooner yacht Egret , 
which hailed from Boston, and had put into Rock- 
pine shorthanded early in the season. In spite of 
his youth there was no better sailor than he in the 
place. This fact was so well appreciated by Mr. 
Almy, the owner of the Egret , that he had just 
written to offer Gale a mate’s berth for a southern 
cruise that would last all winter. 

This offer had come like a godsend to the strug- 
gling family, for they were at their wit’s end to 
know how they should get through the season, and 
Gale was on the point of shipping for one of the 
hardest and most perilous of all voyages, a winter’s 
cruise to the Banks, when it came. Of course he 
accepted it promptly and gladly. At first he was 
highly elated at the prospect of sailing in those far 
Southern seas that he had so longed to visit, but 
without a hope of ever having the chance. But as 
the time for his departure drew near he grew more 
and more thoughtful, and on this last night before 


GALE ELL I COT'S DISCO FEE V. 


33 


leaving his home with all its dear ones, it almost 
seemed as though he could not go. 

As he and his mother sat hand in hand, talking in 
low tones, they were startled by a loud knock at the 
outer door. Gale opened it and a man stepped into 
the room. At the sight of him Mrs. Ellicot’s heart 
sank like lead, and she could hardly control her voice 
sufficiently to ask him to be seated. 


CHAPTER Y. 


DEBT AND ITS TERRORS. 

I T is a perilous thing to run in debt, and one of 
the most dangerous forms of debt is a note for 
which the only security is one’s own home. A note 
is transferable, and thus, though it may at first be 
held by a friend who is not particular about the in- 
terest, and who willingly grants a request for an 
extension of time, it may, at any moment, pass into 
the hands of one who will demand a prompt pay- 
ment of his legal dues to the last cent. It was so in 
the present case. In her distress and poverty, soon 
after her husband’s death, Mrs. Ellicot had accepted 
Deacon Wiggin’s kind offer of a loan, for which she 
had insisted on giving him a five-years’ note. The 
loan was a thousand dollars, which was something 
more than all the property she owned in the world. 
On this sum, aided by what Gale could pick up by 
doing odd jobs, the widow had managed to support 

34 


DEBT AND ITS TERRORS. 35 

her little family and send the elder children to school 
for nearly live years. Now the money was com- 
pletely exhausted, and this had made it necessary for 
Gale to give up school that winter and seek for 
something to do. He loved to study, and hoped 
that, in some way, he might be able to go to college, 
for which he was nearly prepared. 

The boy did not let his mother know what a pang 
it cost him to abandon this cherished scheme ; but, 
declaring that he would rather be a sailor than any- 
thing else in the world, and dwelling upon the fact 
that it was the only business for which he was 
already fitted, he began seeking for a berth that 
would yield support to the little family of which he 
was now the main stay. 

It so happened that good, warm-hearted Deacon 
Wiggin had recently died. In the settlement of his 
estate it was discovered that, owing to his wide- 
spread charities, he had left little behind, save a 
name that was loved and cherished far and wide. 
Much of his property, including the Ellicot’s note, 
passed into the hands of Abel Gripmore, who owned 
a sardine canning factory, and was not only the 
wealthiest, but the “ hardest ” man in Rockpine. 


36 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


He had already applied to Mrs. Ellicot for the un- 
paid interest, that the easy-going Deacon had never 
thought of claiming, and threatened if it were not 
paid to take possession of their home the moment 
the note fell due. By desperate efforts, during the 
past summer, the Ellicots had succeeded in paying 
fifty dollars of the interest money ; but two hundred 
dollars still remained to be raised. 

Abel Gripmore was the visitor to the little brown 
cottage that November evening, and the moment 
Mrs. Ellicot caught sight of his unsympathetic face 
she felt that he had come to make further demands 
for money. 

“Well, Mrs. Ellicot,” he began, “it ain’t just the 
kind of an evening one would choose to make a call 
on, but as I was passing and saw a light, I thought 
I might as well drop in and speak of our little mat- 
ter of business.” 

“ I was afraid so,” said the widow, faintly. 

“ Oh, you ain’t no call to be afraid, Mrs. Ellicot,” 
said the visitor, with a grim smile, “ for I ’ve come to 
make an offer that ’s in every way to your advantage. 
You see the way of it is this. I ’ve decided to build a 
lobster factory, and there ain’t a prettier site for it 


DEBT AND ITS TERRORS . 


37 


on the coast than this very point of land. Now, if 
you can’t pay that note and the balance of the inter- 
est due on it by the first of May, I shall be obliged 
to enter suit against you for it. If you can pay it, 
on or before that date, of course I won’t have noth- 
ing more to say, except that you ’ll be paying more ’n 
this place is worth.” 

“ I ’m very much afraid that I sha’n’t be able ” 

“ That ’s just it,” interrupted Mr. Gripmore. “It 
is n’t no way likely you will be able to find the 
money, and so you ’ll have to leave here by the first 
of May anyway. But I ’d like to get to work sooner 
than that ; so, if you ’ll move out by the first of Jan- 
uary I ’ll let you off the whole of the interest still 
due. If you go by the first of February I ’ll knock 
off one hundred dollars. If it is n’t convenient to 
do that, and you ’ll give possession by the first of 
March, I ’ll allow you fifty dollars. In either case 
I ’ll give you a release from all further obligations. 
Now I call that a pretty liberal offer, when I might, 
easy enough, get judgment for the face of the note 
w T ith interest and costs, and could hold it over you 
till the very last cent was paid.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Gripmore ! ” exclaimed the widow, “ I 


38 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


was in hopes that, if we succeeded in paying one 
hundred dollars next year and paid the interest 
regularly after that, you would be willing to extend 
the time of the note, and let us stay here. This has 
been my only home ever since I was married ; my 
children were born here ; my husband died here, 
and if it is taken from us we have nowhere in the 
world to go. Gale will be able to earn more and 
more money every year now, and I ’m sure it won’t 
be very long before we shall be able to pay both 
principal and interest. If you ’d only please give us 
a little time.” 

“ I ’m very sorry, ma’am, but business is business,” 
replied the wealthy man. “This place suits me 
better ’n any other and on the first of May I shall 
certainly take possession of it, if you don’t accept 
one of my offers and let me have it sooner. I ’ll give 
you from now till the first of January to consider it ; 
but I shall hope to hear from you before that time. 
Good-evening, ma’am.” 

“ Oh, Gale ! what shall we do ? ” cried Mrs. Elli- 
cot, as the door closed behind the man who held this 
terrible power of debt over them. 

“ We won’t do a thing about it, mother, until the 


DEBT AND ITS TERRORS. 


39 


first of May,” replied the boy promptly. “ We ’ll 
just hold on to our home till the very last minute. 
Then we ’ll have my winter’s wages to fall back on 
anyway. But, oh, mother ! It would be awful to 
have to give up our dear little home, would n’t it ? 
It does n’t seem as though we could be happy in any 
other place in all the world.” 

So they talked of their property, their hopes, and 
their fears, and of what they would do if they only 
had money, until Gale suddenly recollected the 
strange story of the long-ago treasure ship, that he 
had read that day. Then he produced the package 
of time-stained manuscript that he had discovered in 
the old trunk, and read it to his mother. She lis- 
tened with an ever increasing interest, and when he 
finished she exclaimed : “ Why, Gale, Sir Bichard 

Allanson must have been your great-great-grand- 
father; for my mother’s mother was an Allanson, 
and that little trunk came to me with a lot of other 
old things from her house.” 

“ Then you think it is a really true story, 
mother ? ” 

“ I have n’t a doubt of it, though I never heard 
of it before.” 


40 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ W ell,” said the boy, “ I only wish great-great- 
grandfather Richard had found the Aztec again. 
Maybe we would n’t be so poor now if he had. 
Just think of all that gold and silver lying at the 
bottom of the sea, and doing nobody any good.” 

“I expect it might just as well be there as any- 
where else so far as we are concerned,” replied his 
mother, with a sad smile. “ But now, dear, you 
must go to bed, for it is almost to-morrow, and you 
have to make an early start.” 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE YOUNG MATE S TEMPTATION. 



HE following evening Gale Ellicot had left his 


X home and its dear ones far behind, and had 
reported for duty on board the Egret , which he 
found lying at an East Boston wharf, where she 
was taking in stores and fitting for her long cruise. 
He was disappointed to be met by a new captain in 
place of the weather-beaten old salt with whom he 
had sailed the previous summer ; but Captain Star- 
buck had not cared to take a winter voyage, and 
Captain Earl Staver had been engaged in his place. 
The latter was not a yacht sailor, but had for sev- 
eral years commanded a trading schooner in the 
West Indies, and had been highly recommended to 
Mr. Almy as one of the most skilful navigators of 
those waters. He was a sallow, slightly-built man, 
who looked almost effeminate in comparison with 
the broad-shouldered Maine boy who was to be 


41 


42 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


his mate. The two gazed at each other curi- 
ously as they first met and shook hands, and Gale 
asked himself if the man who seemed to find such 
difficulty in looking him squarely in the face could 
be a good sailor. 

Whatever Captain Staver thought of his young 
mate, he was evidently determined to cultivate the 
most friendly relations with him. He did everything 
in his power to make Gale comfortable and secure 
his good-will. The youth would have wondered at 
this if he had known that the captain had tried 
to fill his berth with a man of his own selection, 
and had been unable to conceal his disappointment 
when Mr. Almy informed him that he had already 
offered the position to another. Captain Staver had, 
however, been left to his own choice of a crew, and 
in overlooking their work Gale admitted that he had 
gathered a lot of first-class sailormen, though none 
of them seemed to have ever shipped on a yacht be- 
fore. He also remarked upon the fact that most of 
them were swarthy chaps, who seemed to be of 
Spanish or Portuguese origin, and Captain Staver 
said that he had chosen them for that very reason. 
They were acclimated to tropic weather and accus- 
tomed to sailing in tropic seas. 


THE YOUNG MATE’S TEMPTATION. 


43 


After a few days’ hard work in setting up rigging, 
bending on new sails, taking in stores, and in other 
ways getting the yacht ready for sea, Gale felt that 
he was pretty well acquainted with his new captain. 
He could not help a certain sort of liking for one 
who was so uniformly kind to him. Though the 
man’s manner lacked the frankness that generally 
marks an honest sailor, Gale strove to forget this and 
to regard him with the implicit faith that should 
always exist between those who embark on long 
voyages in company. At length, one evening after 
a hard day’s work, the captain invited his mate to 
take a shore dinner with him. Gale accepted the 
invitation, and thoroughly enjoyed the dinner, which 
was served in a private room in a first-class restau- 
rant, and was the best to which he had ever sat 
down. His entertainer seemed, for a moment, some- 
what provoked that he refused a glass of the cham- 
pagne that was brought on toward the close of the 
meal, but he passed the matter by with a laugh, 
saying : 

“ Oh, well, you ’ll come to it before you ’re much 
older. I never drink anything myself on shipboard, 
but a glass now and then on shore does n’t do any 
harm.” 


44 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


“ Perhaps not,” replied Gale, “ but I Ve made up 
my mind that I can get along just as well without 
it” 

Then the subject was changed. After the dinner 
was finished and Captain Staver had lighted a cigar, 
while Gale had politely declined the one offered to 
him, the former said : 

“I ’ve taken such a fancy to you, Ellicot, that I Ve 
decided to let you in on a scheme that will put a 
snug sum of money into your pocket. What do 
you say to making a clean thousand dollars, and 
doing me a favor at the same time ?” 

A thought of the dear little home, burdened with 
its thousand-dollar debt, flashed into Gale’s mind as 
he answered : “ I shall be only too happy to do you 
a favor, and also to make that amount of money, if I 
can do it honestly.” 

“ Honestly ! Oh, yes. There ’s nothing dishonest 
about the scheme, it ’s only a littly risky, that ’s all ; 
but if I ’ve sized you up rightly you ’re too brave a 
lad to hold back from a bit of danger. You see 
we ’re bound for a general cruise among the West 
India islands, and will be more than likely to touch 
at Hayti. At any rate I can arrange things so that 


THE YOUNG MATE'S TEMPTATION. 45 

it will seem necessary for us to do so. Well, there ’s 
a big fight going on down there just now, between a 
lot of honest fellows who have been driven to the 
hills, and a lot of rascals who are in power and try- 
ing to run the government for what money they can 
make out of it. Of course I ’m not interested in the 
quarrel, except that I ’d naturally like to see the 
honest fellows come out ahead. Unfortunately they 
are very short of arms. If they don’t get a supply 
pretty soon they ’ll have to give in and the rascals 
will have everything their own way. 

“ Now the honest fellows have some wealthy 
friends here in Boston, who will gladly supply 
these arms, and are willing to pay something hand- 
some for getting them there. Having learned that 
we are going down there, and that I know all the 
merits of the case, besides being in sympathy with 
the honest party, these friends propose that we 
shall quietly stow away a few thousand muskets, 
bayonets, and pistols in the Egret , and run our 
chances of putting them where they will do the 
most good. Of course I could do this alone ; for I 
have got together a crew of fellows who will do 
anything I say. I always make it a rule though to 


46 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


share a good thing with my mate whenever he ’s a 
decent sort of a fellow, as I believe you to be. So 
I ’ve made up my mind to let you in, and put a cool 
thousand dollars in your pocket. If you say the 
word we can have these things aboard in no time, 
and nobody ever be the wiser for it. How does the 
scheme strike you ? ” 

“ Have you told Mr. Almy of it ? ” asked Gale, 
who had listened to the plan thus unfolded by his 
superior officer, with surprise, and at the same 
time with a very confused idea of its right and 
wrong. 

u Certainly not,” answered the captain. “ He 
does n’t need the money that we ’ll make out of it, 
and then, as owner of the yacht, he might have 
foolish ideas concerning the neutrality laws. But 
that would be nonsense, because we are not a govern- 
ment vessel, nor even a trader bound to discharge 
only such goods as are shown on our manifest. The 
Egret is a yacht, and, as everybody knows, the crew 
of a yacht are entitled to certain perquisites. The 
cook has the contents of the slush bucket to dispose 
of, the steward receives his commission on all pur- 
chases, the men receive tips from visitors, and why 


THE YOUNG MATE’S TEMPTATION. 


47 


should n’t the officers have a chance to make a 
dollar now and then ? ” 

“ But would n’t the yacht be in danger of seizure 
if we were caught ? ” demanded Gale. 

“ Ah ! but there ’s not the slightest chance of our 
being caught. I know that coast and its people too 
well for anything of that kind.” 

“ But if we were caught ? ” 

“ I tell you we can’t be,” answered the captain, 
impatiently. 

“ I ’m very sorry, sir, but I don’t think we ought 
to have anything to do with this scheme,” said Gale, 
to whom the other’s refusal to give him a direct 
answer was equivalent to an acknowledgment that 
the yacht would be placed in danger by such a 
transaction as he proposed. “I should like to 
oblige you, and I should like to have a thousand 
dollars. I could never touch a cent though, that I 
had not come by honestly, and I cannot think it 
honest to risk the loss of another’s property without 
his consent. Moreover, if you insist on carrying out 
this scheme, I shall consider it my duty to inform 
Mr. Almy of the danger in which his boat is 
placed.” 


48 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


“ So you are a sneak after all, as well as a coward, 
are you?” cried the other, his face livid with rage, 
as he rose from the table and began rapidly pacing 
the room. 

“ As you please, Captain Staver,” answered Gale 
coolly ; “ but at any rate I have been taught to be 
honest, and so long as I live I hope I shall not forget 
my teaching.” 

“ Oh, well,” said the other, controlling his feelings 
with an effort, “ it ’s all right, if you will insist upon 
holding such absurd notions, and I ’m sorry I let my 
temper get the better of me. It is a pretty serious 
disappointment though to lose the chance of making 
several thousand dollars so easily, and of doing real 
good at the same time. Of course, if you won’t go 
into it I shall have to give up the scheme ; for with- 
out your help it would be impossible for me to 
carry it out. So now, if you ’ll excuse me, I ’ll go 
and tell my friends that I can’t have anything to do 
with it.” 

From that time on, Captain Staver treated his 
young mate with marked coolness, and it was 
evident that no real friendship could exist between 
them. Gale watched carefully everything that was 


THE YOUNG MATE'S TEMPTATION. 49 

taken into the yacht, and seeing no signs of any 
muskets, concluded that the captain had kept his 
word, and refused to take them. This was a great 
relief ; for, had he seen anything of the kind coming 
on board, he had fully decided to report it to Mr. 
Almy, who visited the yacht daily. As it was, he 
thought it best not to say anything of what had 
passed between him and his superior officer, con- 
cerning the matter. 

For all this the contraband goods were on board, 
and snugly stowed among the Egress ballast, where 
they had been placed the night before Gale’s 
arrival. 

The very day before that appointed for sailing, 
Gale noticed a pale-faced boy, apparently about 
fifteen years of age, sitting on the string-piece of the 
wharf, a short distance from the yacht, and gazing 
earnestly at it. He also noticed that the Egret's 
cabin boy, a Cuban named Manuel, who had been 
engaged by Captain Staver, was making faces at the 
young stranger and applying insulting epithets 
to him. Gale was too busy to pay much atten- 
tion to this, and did not see Manuel slip ashore 
and disappear behind one of the buildings on the 


50 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


wharf. Nor did he see the young rascal reappear 
around the further corner of the building, steal up 
behind the unsuspecting lad, and deal him a sudden 
blow. The mate did, however, hear the cry of 
terror, and the loud splash, that marked the strange 
lad’s disappearance, as he lost his balance and 
plunged into the swirling tide that was running out 
with great force, between the yacht and the wharf 
at which she lay. 









CHAPTER VII. 


ALECK PENROSE, CABIN BOY. 

G ALE ELLICOT was a clear-headed fellow and 
prompt to act in an emergency. At the 
sounds of the cry and the splash, denoting that 
the boy was overboard, he sprang to the side of 
the yacht, holding a coil of rope that he intended 
to throw to the lad the moment he re-appeared. 
When the struggling figure came to the surface 
Gale instantly realized, by his actions, that he not 
only was unable to swim, but was too paralyzed by 
terror to make any effort towards saving himself. 
As he again sank, the young mate, kicking off his 
shoes, and uttering a shout of “ Man overboard ! ” 
took a splendid header from the yacht’s rail, and 
also disappeared beneath the dark waters. 

When next seen he had one arm about the boy, 
and making a desperate struggle against the swift 
tide to regain the yacht. “ Throw me a rope ! ” 


52 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


he shouted, and Captain Staver, who had rushed 
up from below on hearing the startling cry of “ Man 
overboard,” flung the end of a line toward the brave 
swimmer. Had he miscalculated the distance? Was 
his strength insufficient ? or did he purposely make 
a short cast ? Certainly one of these three things 
was the case ; for the rope failed to meet Gale’s out- 
stretched hand by several yards. Before it could 
be gathered in and thrown again, he and his help- 
less burden had been swept far beyond its reach. 

At this moment another figure sprang to the 
yacht’s deck, and an imperative voice gave the order 
for a boat to be lowered. It was that of the Egret's 
owner, and the crew promptly sprang to obey it. 
In their eagerness too many men tried to do the 
same thing at once, the falls became tangled, and it 
was some minutes before the boat was in the water. 
Mr. Almy, who had waved Captain Staver to one 
side, sat in the stern sheets and held the tiller ropes. 
With a set, white face the owner ordered his men to 
“give way!” Under the impulse of a powerful 
stroke the light boat darted forward in the direction 
of where Gale had last been seen. Now no trace of 
him was to be discovered. The owner’s face grew 


ALECK PENROSE , CABIN BOY. 53 

sterner and whiter as the probable result of the 
delay in getting the boat overboard became ap- 
parent. The strongest swimmer, burdened as the 
young mate had been, must have succumbed to that 
fierce tide. He w r as nowhere to be seen, though 
they commanded an uninterrupted view for a long 
distance. He must have gone down, and the lad 
j for whom he had perilled his life with him. He 
might have saved himself had he been willing to 
relinquish his burden, but Mr. Almy knew that 
Gale Ellicot would never do that so long as his own 
life lasted. No, they must have sunk, and two 
I lives had been sacrificed to Manuel’s mischievous 
blow, which Mr. Almy had witnessed from a dis- 
tance as he approached the yacht. He ground his 
teeth savagely as he thought of it. 

At length the fruitless search was abandoned, and 
the boat was pulled slowly back toward the Egret 
It was kept close in to the wharves to escape the 
full force of the tide. Suddenly Mr. Almy held up 
his hand for the men to cease rowing, turned his 
head and listened intently. Then came the quick 
order, “ Give way Port ! Hold hard Starboard ! 
Steady ! Give way all ! ” and the next minute the 


54 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


boat dashed into the dripping blackness under a 
wharf that they had nearly passed. Now the men 
also heard, above the gurgling of the waters, the 
faint cry that had attracted the owner’s keen eared 
attention ; but for some moments they could not 
tell whence it proceeded. 

“ Help ! Quick ! I ’m letting go ! ” came the cry, 
apparently from under their bows, and then the 
ready boathook of the bow oarsman was caught in 
Gale Ellicot’s clothing. They were just in time, for 
the strong hold was already relaxing from about the 
pile, against which the brave swimmer had been car- 
ried by the tide, and to which he had clung. He 
had not lost consciousness when they got him into 
the boat; but his left arm was clasped so rigidly 
about the form of the lad whom he had refused to 
abandon, even to save himself, that they bad diffi- 
culty in relaxing it. 

As the boat again ran alongside the yacht, and 
Captain Staver saw that its mission had been suc- 
cessful, the expression of his face would have puz- 
zled an observer. It showed a conflict of emotious ; 
but there was nothing in it to indicate the joy that 
his tone was intended to convey as he said to Mr. 


ALECK PENROSE, CABIN BOY. 55 

Almy : “ You ’ve done well, sir, but I VI about given 
up all hope, you were gone so long. It would have 
been a terrible blow to me to have lost so fine a 
young officer as Mr. Ellicot; all on account of a 
miserable little wharf rat too. I ’m sorry, though, 
that I caused you so much trouble by that unlucky 
heave of the line. I can’t think how I happened to 
miscalculate the distance.” 

“ It ’s all light now,” replied the owner, grimly ; 
“ but the next time a job of that kind comes in your 
way I would advise you to let some one else under- 
take it. Now send for the nearest doctor as quickly 
as you can. Come, men, bear a hand and get these 
lads on deck ! ” 

The dark-browed captain accepted this rebuke 
meekly, and was most active in doing everything 
possible for the restoration and comfort of those 
who had been so nearly drowned. At the end of 
an hour Gale was going about his accustomed duties, 
looking a little pale and feeling somewhat shaky, 
but not otherwise suffering any ill effects from his 
recent experience. At the same time the lad whom 
he had so bravely rescued had been restored to con- 
sciousness and lay sleeping quietly in a comfortable 


56 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


berth. Manuel, the cabin boy and author of all the 
mischief, had disappeared, nor did he ever again 
show his face aboard the Egret 

When Mr. Almy came down to the yacht the next 
morning, to see if she were ready to receive her 
passengers and start on her cruise, he did not, for a 
moment, recognize the neat-appearing lad whom he 
found sweeping the cabin floor. 

“ Who are you ? ” he inquired. 

“ I ’m Aleck Penrose, sir,” replied the boy, with 
a quick flush mounting to his pale cheeks. “ Mr. 
Ellicot said I was to stay here and make myself use- 
ful till Mr. Almy came, and perhaps he would give 
me the berth of cabin boy in place of the other 
who has n’t come back.” 

“ He ’d better not, the young rascal ! ” growled 
the yacht owner. Then more kindly he continued : 
“ So you are the lad whom my mate jumped over- 
board after, are you ? Judging from your appear- 
ance the ducking seems to have done you good.” 

“ I expect it ’s the eating, sir, for I had n’t eaten 
anything for nearly two days.” 

“ Good gracious, boy ! You don’t mean to say that 
you were starving ? Where are your parents ? ” 


ALECK PENROSE , CABIN BOV. 


57 


“ Dead, sir.” 

“ Where do you live, then ? ” 

a I lived with my aunt, sir ; but she was sick and 
I had to take care of her till she died too. Then 
the landlord took everything we had for rent and 
turned me out, so now I have n’t any relatives in the 
world but a little sister who lives with a family in 
the country.” 

“ Have you always lived in the city ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ Can you read and write ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, sir. I Ve always gone to school.” 

“ Do you know anything about yachts or sailing ?” 

“ No, sir, I ’m afraid not ; but I know a lot about 
housekeeping and tidying up places.” 

“Well,” laughed Mr. Almy, “I don’t know but 
what that is more important, considering the berth 
that you have applied for, and for want of a better, 
I guess I ’ll take you along as cabin boy.” 

“ Oh, thank you, sir ! ” exclaimed the lad, with a 
beaming face. “ I ’ll do my very best, and learn as 
fast as ever I can.” 

Two hours later the yacht was under way, and, 
with the owner and his family on board, was stand- 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


58 

ing down Boston harbor toward the open sea and 
the far away tropic islands for which she was bound. 
It was now December, and the day, though clear 
and bright, was so cold that, after the excitement of 
the start had worn off, the passengers were glad to 
gather about the cheerful fire blazing in an open 
grate in the big, comfortable cabin. The breeze 
being steady and favorable, the watch on deck was 
kept warm and busy getting sail after sail hoisted 
and sheeted home, until the yacht was under racing 
canvas, and speeding along as though she too were 
in a hurry to escape from cold weather. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


CRUISING AMONG TROPIC ISLANDS. 

HE voyage to the Bahamas was uneventful, 



A and the following four months were happily 
spent in cruising among those coral islets, and down 
through the Windward and Leeward groups as far 
as Trinidad. Nor was the whole of this time spent 
in sailing. Often for days, and sometimes for a 
week at a time, the Egret would lie quietly at an- 
chor in some snug harbor, while her passengers 
explored the adjacent water in the swift naphtha 
launch that formed part of her equipment, or visited 
points of interest on shore. 

Of the crew none enjoyed the cruise so much as 
did the mate and cabin boy, to whom everything 
relating to this tropic experience was new and 
delightful. The former, who was a prime favorite 
with the Almys, always went in charge of the 
launch, and was treated by his employer more as a 
59 


6o 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


friend and companion, than as one whose services 
were hired. Thus he saw nearly everything that 
was worth seeing, and acquired a vast amount of 
useful knowledge concerning the people and pro- 
ducts of the islands. Much of this he imparted to 
Aleck Penrose who, ever since the day of his gallant 
rescue by the young mate, had been his loyal friend 
and ardent admirer. In consequence of the coolness 
with which Captain Staver had treated his second 
in command, ever since the latter had refused to 
join in his scheme for supplying the Haytian rebels 
with arms, Gale was forced to find his most intimate 
companion in the cabin boy. Nor did he have oc- 
casion to regret, for Penrose, as he was called, proved 
to be an exceptionally bright and entertaining lad. 
He had improved wonderfully in personal appear- 
ance, the result of being well fed and kindly treated, 
and now his happy face and well developed figure, 
were in striking contrast to what he had exhibited 
when Gale first saw him seated on the string-piece 
of an East Boston wharf. Only the captain seemed 
to have taken a dislike to the lad, and invariably 
spoke to him harshly. For this reason Gale took 
especial pains to show his friendship toward the boy. 


CRUISING AMONG TROPIC ISLANDS . 


6l 


He even tried to teach him the rudiments of seaman- 
ship, and insisted upon his learning to row, as well 
as to gain an understanding of the management of a 
small boat under sail. He wanted also to teach the 
boy to swim ; but in this he could not succeed, for 
Penrose had an unconquerable aversion to the water, 
that no amount of persuasion or ridicule could over- 
come. He only learned what he did concerning 
boats, out of pure love and gratitude toward his 
instructor, and was never more unhappy than when 
he found himself in one, and thus uncomfortably 
close to the sea. In bis own department, that of 
the cabin, he performed his duties with such quick- 
ness and dexterity, that Mr. Almy declared him to 
be the best cabin boy he had ever shipped. 

In all their cruising they had not touched at the 
island of Hayti, though they had passed it twice. 
For some reason Mr. Almy did not seem inclined to 
stop there, in spite of the captain’s suggestions that 
it would be a pleasant place to visit. The latter 
had proved himself a most excellent navigator, as 
well as a skilful pilot of the dangerous West Indian 
waters. For all that, however, his employer could 
not bring himself to a liking for him, and held as 


62 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


little intercourse with him as possible. This was 
greatly resented by the man, and served to intensify 
his jealousy of the young mate, whose treatment by 
Mr. Almy was in such marked contrast to his own. 

The first of April found the Egret lying in the 
harbor of Havana. Here her owner announced his 
intention of travelling overland, with his family, 
from one end of Cuba to the other, and gave orders 
that the yacht should proceed to Santiago, at the 
extreme eastern point of the island. There she was 
to await his coming, and prepare for her homeward 
voyage. 

Not since the beginning of the cruise had Captain 
Staver seemed so pleased with anything, as he did 
at receiving this order. He at once became affable 
and agreeable to everybody, including his young 
mate, and went about his duties with his face 
wreathed in smiles. The crew seemed to partake of 
his feelings, and Gale wondered at the unusual at- 
mosphere of good-nature that pervaded the whole 
yacht. As for himself he would have been much 
better pleased had he been ordered to accompany 
the Almys on their overland journey ; but of 
course that was out of the question. 


CRUISING AMONG TROPIC ISLANDS. 63 

After the departure of the .Egret's passengers he 
found new cause for surprise, in the haste shown by 
Captain Staver to get under way and start for San- 
tiago. To him it seemed as though there were 
several good reasons why they should not leave 
their anchorage just then. In the first place, they 
could reach their destination in two or three days ; 
while the Almys expected to be as many weeks on 
their journey. Then the barometer was falling and 
the weather looked threatening. They were also in 
need of fresh water. He ventured to suggest these 
things to the captain, who only answered sharply : 
“ I know my own business, sir.” 

So they sailed out under the frowning walls of 
the Moro, shortly before sunset, and that night were 
caught in a tropical tempest that very nearly sent 
the good yacht Egret to the bottom. For two days 
it raged, and when, toward the close of the second 
day it broke, allowing the sun to shine out for a few 
minutes before setting, the yacht was found to be 
sadly battered, though still stanch and seaworthy. 
For twenty-four hours she had been hove to ; but 
now, though the wind still blew a gale, and there 
was a huge sea running, Captain Staver determined 


6 4 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


to put her again on her course. As he was about to 
issue the necessary orders, there came a* cry of 
“ Wreck ! Wreck astern ! ” and he waited to have 
a look at it. The wreck was that of a dismasted 
vessel, floating very low in the water, and was onl}^ 
to be seen when both they and it were hove up on 
top of a sea. 

As they drifted faster than it they were soon able 
to distinguish objects on its deck, and among them 
was the figure of a man who was waving his arms 
wildly to attract their attention. 

“ Shall I order a boat cleared away, sir ? ” asked 
Gale, whose warm-hearted impulse was to hasten to 
the assistance of this human being in such deadly peril. 

For a moment the captain did not answer, but 
continued to regard the wreck steadily through his 
glasses. Then he lowered them with a disgusted 
expression on his face, and said : “ No. It ’s only a 
‘ nigger ’ as I thought, and I ’m not going to risk 
white men’s lives for him.” 

“ Only a ‘nigger’!” cried Gale, in amazement. 
“ Do you mean to say, sir, that you would leave the 
man to his fate, merely because he happens to have 
a black skin ? ” 


CRUISING AMONG TROPIC ISLANDS. 65 

“That ’s just what I do mean,” answered the cap- 
tain, coolly. 

“ Then, sir, I denounce your conduct as an outrage 
against humanity, and demand that you allow me to 
go to his relief. In case you refuse, I shall brand 
you as a murderer in every port we enter.” 

“ Oh, you can go if you want to,” replied the 
captain ; “ but I forbid a man of the crew to go 
with you.” 

“Then I will go alone,” said Gale, calmly. 

A minute later the gig, which was the lightest 
boat on the yacht, was lowered, with the young 
mate as its sole occupant. Just as he was shoving 
off, there was a loud cry on deck, and Aleck Pen- 
rose, the cabin boy, leaped from the yacht’s rail into 
the boat, exclaiming, “ You sha’n’t go to your death 
alone, Gale, not while I am alive to go with you ! ” 

So sudden and unexpected was the boy’s action, 
that before Gale could recover from his astonish- 
ment a big sea had swept the light boat far astern 
of the yacht, and it was too late to put back. Mak- 
ing the best of the situation, he bade Aleck take the 
tiller, while he devoted his entire energies to pulling 
toward the wreck. They were now abreast of the 


66 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


unfortunate vessel, and but a short distance from it ; 
but even to pass over that brief space, filled as it 
was with mountainous billows, required all the skill 
and strength that the young sailor from Maine could 
command. In this position Aleck’s steering was of 
the greatest service, and as he sat there, cool and 
alert, without exhibiting a trace of fear or excite- 
ment, it seemed incredible that he could be the same 
boy who had refused to learn to swim, because of 
his timidity and horror of the water. In that 
cockle-shell of a boat, threatened each instant with 
destruction, he appeared as unconscious of danger 
as though he were standing on dry land. 

The task was finally accomplished, and the wreck 
reached. In the comparatively smooth water under 
its lee, Gale had little difficulty in catching a line 
flung to him from it. In another moment the man 
whom he had ventured so much to rescue, a young 
negro about his own age, black as jet, and of splen- 
did physical proportions, had slid down the rope 
into the boat. His first words were, “ Agua, senor ! 
Agua ! ” 

A small breaker, filled with fresh water, was 
always kept in each of the Egrets boats and from 


CRUISING AMONG TROPIC ISLANDS. 67 

the one that had been lashed under a thwart in the 
gig, the young negro now took such a prodigious 
draught that it seemed as though he would empty 
it before becoming satisfied. 

“ Is there any one else on board ? ” asked Gale, 
when he at length put down the breaker. 

“No, sah,” answered the negro, in fairly good 
English. “I ’se de only one lef. All de others 
done swep’ off and drown.” 

“ Then let us get back to the yacht as quickly as 
possible. You can pull an oar, I suppose ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, sah ! ” replied the other, with a broad 
grin that revealed a glistening row of teeth, “ Caesar 
kin pull like a tarpum fish.” 

The young mate looked up curiously at the sound 
of this name, but had no time to consider it just 
then. An oar was put into the negro’s hands, and 
Gale was about to cast off from the wreck, when his 
attention was arrested by a startled exclamation from 
Aleck Penrose. 

“ Gale, look, quick ! The Egret is leaving us ! ” 
cried the boy. 

Gale looked, and could hardly believe his eyes. 
He rubbed them and looked again. Yes, there 


68 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


could be no doubt of it. The yacht, under three- 
reefed lower sails, was certainly headed on her 
course. She was already at a considerable distance 
from them, and was rapidly increasing it. They 
were cruelly, heartlessly, abandoned to their fate. 



THE RESCUE OF CAESAR 












































































CHAPTER IX. 


ABANDONED AT SEA. 

S TANDING upright in the tossing boat, motion- 
less and without speaking, Gale Ellicot gazed 
after the white sails of the vanishing yacht. He 
was stunned by the magnitude of the catastrophe 
that had overtaken him. The deliberate cruelty of 
their desertion was incredible to the young mate. 
Such a thing was unknown and unheard of in all 
his experience. It could not be true. The yacht 
must still put about and come for them. With 
straining eyes he watched her until the last faint 
glimmer of her sails was merged in the white crests 
of the tumbling billows, and she vanished in the 
gathering gloom of night. Then the strong young 
spirit gave way, and, dropping to a thwart, Gale 
buried his face in his hands. 

“ Cheer up, Gale ! ” cried a voice in his ear, while 
at the same moment Aleck’s arm was thrown lovingly 

69 


70 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


across his shoulders. “We are not lost yet, even if 
those cowards have deserted us. As for myself, I ’d 
a heap rather be here with you, than there* with 
them. They are going to get into trouble and I 
know it. Captain Staver thought I was asleep and 
did n’t hear, or would n’t understand his Spanish if 
I did, when, the last night we were in Havana he 
talked with old Jose about the guns and cartridges 
under the cabin floor. They spoke of some one 
they would have to get rid of too, but did n’t men- 
tion his name. Now I think it must have been you, 
and they are going to turn pirates, and every one of 
them will be hung. I was going to tell you the 
very first chance I got, but the storm scared me so 
that I forgot all about it. We ’ll come out of this 
all right, somehow, see if we don’t, and I think we 
ought to be glad that we can’t be hung for pirates, 
anyhow.” 

These words had the desired effect of completely 
changing Gale’s current of thought; even before 
Aleck finished speaking, he lifted his head and was 
listening intently. 

“Guns, did you say, and cartridges under the 
cabin floor ? ” he asked, as a light began to break on 


ABANDONED AT SEA. 


7 1 


the situation. “Then they got them aboard after 
all without my knowing it, and they are going to 
take them to Hayti. What a fool I was not to find 
it out before. That, then, is the reason why Captain 
Staver has been so happy lately, and was in such a 
hurry to be off, and was so willing to get rid of me. 
Hayti lies just east of Cuba. They can easily go 
there, discharge their concealed cargo, and get to 
Santiago before Mr. Almy does, without anybody 
being the wiser. Oh, what a fool I was not to 
speak to him about it ! And now I ’ve gone and 
got you into this wretched fix too. I declare, Pen- 
rose, it ’s too bad ! ” 

“ No it is n’t,” said the boy, stoutly. “ It ’s just 
right as it is. Besides, you did n’t get me into this 
fix. I came into it of my own accord, and I ’d do 
the very same thing again. But, Gale, don’t you 
think we ’d better climb up on the wreck ? We 
won’t be so horribly close to the water as we are 
here, and I ’m awfully afraid of it in the dark.” 

“Bight you are, my boy,” replied Gale, with re- 
newed cheerfulness. “ I was worse than a baby to 
be so cast down. While there ’s life there ’s hope. 
We have plenty of life left, so why should n’t we 


72 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


have lots of hope ? As yon say, the wreck looks to 
be a more comfortable place to spend the night in 
than this boat, and I don’t believe it ’s likely to sink 
for a good while yet. Hello there, you black fellow 
— what ’s your name, Caesar or Caesar’s ghost ? Pull 
us up to your ship, will you, and invite us aboard. 
It would n’t be polite, you know, to leave your 
visitors out here all night.” 

With a broad grin illuminating his face, the black 
did as directed. Although he was greatly disap- 
pointed at having his hopes of a rescue dashed so 
unexpectedly, and was utterly at a loss to under- 
stand the situation of affairs, he was so refreshed by 
the water, for which he had been perishing, and so 
rejoiced to have companions in misfortune, that his 
spirits rose to the occasion. He even laughed 
heartily at Aleck’s awkward attempts to climb the 
rope leading to the wreck. In these attempts the 
ex-cabin boy failed so utterly, that they were finally 
obliged to knot a line under his arms, by which the 
negro easily hauled him up while Gale steadied the 
boat. 

As the latter also stepped from the frail craft, 
after having handed out the precious water breaker, 


ABANDONED AT SEA. 


7 3 


and before the boat could be allowed to drop to a 
safe distance astern, it was lifted on the crest of a 
sea and hurled so violently against the wreck that 
its slight frame was crushed like an egg-shell, and it 
almost instantly sank. 

At this both Gale and the negro uttered cries of 
dismay; but Aleck said he was glad of it, for he 
had been frightened almost to death in the thing, 
and now he would n’t be obliged to trust himself to 
it again. 

The wreck on which the young sailors now found 
themselves was that of a large Cuban fishing smack, 
which had been schooner rigged. She had been 
turtling on the east coast, and was returning to 
Havana when she was thrown on her beam ends 
and dismasted by the first blast of the hurricane, 
which struck her with much greater fury than it 
had the yacht. Thinking that she was about to 
founder, her crew had made a rush for the boats. 
These were quickly swamped, and only the negro, 
by the full exercise of his wonderful strength, had 
been able to regain the wreck by swimming. Now, 
though the after part of the schooner was so low in 
the water that its rail was nearly awash, her bows, 


74 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


for some unexplained reason, still floated high. For 
two days and nights the negro had drifted alone, 
and at the mercy of the elements. He had been 
constantly wet by the seas that dashed over him, 
and had suffered keenly from thirst. Now the 
storm had so abated that the waves no longer 
swept over the forward part of the deck, and there 
the three young sailors could remain in comparative 
comfort. 

As darkness came on and the stars shone out in 
unclouded splendor, the wind sank to a steady breeze 
and the sea rapidly subsided. All three of the lads 
shivered as the cool night air penetrated their soaked 
clothing, and all of them were very hungry, while 
the negro was ravenous. At length he descended 
into the forecastle, where for some time he groped 
about, wading through the water that swashed above 
the floor to a depth of several feet. When he re- 
appeared he bore in one hand an axe, and in the 
other a great bunch of what looked like dried 
yellow plums or persimmons. These he proceeded 
to eat, after first offering to share them with his 
companions. They each tried one, but even their 
hunger could not induce them to swallow another 


ABANDONED AT SEA. 


75 


of the evil-smelling things. The dried plums, as 
they thought them, were really the yolks of unlaid 
eggs taken from the bodies of dead turtles. By the 
natives of those southern islands these “ yellows,” as 
they are called, are esteemed a great delicacy, but 
their smell alone generally deters a stranger from 
testing them further. 

After taking the edge off his appetite with these 
unsavory eggs, the negro curled himself up in the 
eyes of the bow, and, with the happy carelessness of 
his race, almost immediately fell asleep. Sitting as 
close together as possible for warmth, Gale and 
Aleck talked of their situation and studied the stars 
for several hours. Gale pointed out the Southern 
Cross, sunk low on one horizon, and the North Star 
above the other. This led him to thoughts of his 
own far away home, and when at last he too fell 
asleep some time after Aleck had done so, it was 
to dream of the little brown cottage and its loved 
inmates. 

So, bearing its sleeping passengers in safety, the 
water-logged wreck drifted on through the night. 
Minor currents urged it this way and that, but 
always the powerful tide of the mighty gulf stream 


;6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


bore it steadily forward. Some time after midnight 
it was deflected towards the Florida coast by the 
young flood, and on the very top of the tide it took 
bottom, on an outlying reef, so gently that none of 
the sleepers was awakened by the slight shock. By 
this time the breeze had died out, and the heaving 
bosom of the sea was as unruffled as a mirror. 















. 


















































































































































CHAPTER X. 


ESCAPING- FROM THE WRECK. 

T length Gale awoke with a start, rubbed his 



eyes and gazed about him in bewilderment. 
Pie was stiff and lame from lying so long in the 
dampness on his hard couch, and he could not at 
first recognize his surroundings. He wondered at 
the steadiness of the wreck, and rising to his feet 
looked over the rail to discover its meaning. The 
eastern sky was aglow with the marvellous coloring 
of sunrise, and the opal-tinted waters gleamed with 
a satiny sheen. 

Gazing down into the clear depths he could see a 
coral bottom, above which waved the gorgeous crim- 
sons and purples of feathery sea fans. Then he knew 
the wreck was on a reef, but he had no more knowl- 
edge of where it was located than the boy who still 
lay sleeping at his feet. A few miles away across 
the tinted waters, rose the misty outline of an un- 


77 


78 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


known land. On all sides great fish glistening like 
bars of molten silver and dripping as with diamonds, 
leaped high into the air as though rejoicing in the 
glory of the new-born day. The young mate’s spirits 
rose as he gazed about him, and with a loud shout 
he startled his companions into such sudden wake- 
fulness that Aleck bumped his head against the bul- 
warks and sat up rubbing it ruefully, while the negro 
sprang to his feet muttering some Spanish words to 
the effect that he would be on deck in a minute. 

“ Come, bear a hand, hearties ! ” cried Gale, laugh- 
ing at their confusion. “ Here we are hard and fast 
aground with land in sight, and breakfast not ready 
yet. How about those ill-smelling plums of yours, 
Caesar ? Are there any left ? By holding my nose 
and shutting my eyes I believe I might manage to 
swallow a few, and I must stow something away 
inside, for I feel as empty as a last year’s bird’s 
nest.” 

With a grin lighting his sable features, the negro 
produced the considerable quantity of “yellows” 
still remaining. Both Gale and Aleck managed to 
swallow enough of them to take the edge off their 
appetites, while Caesar ate greedily all that were left. 


ESCAPING FROM THE WRECK. 79 

There was still water enough in the breaker to wash 
these down, and to refresh them greatly. 

“Now, fellows, let ’s get ready to go ashore,” said 
Gale, when this scanty meal was finished. “ Perhaps 
we can get there and find a hotel by dinner-time. 
Besides, I am anxious to send a few telegrams as 
soon as possible.” 

“ How are you going to get there ? ” asked Aleck, 
gazing wistfully at the distant land. 

“ The same way Robinson Crusoe did ; by means 
of a raft,” was the reply. 

“ And do you really think we will find people 
there? White people I mean.” 

“ I should n’t be surprised, and perhaps they will 
send a tug out for us; but it won’t do to wait for 
them. The tide is running out now and we must be 
ready to take advantage of the very first of the 
flood. So let ’s look alive and get to work on our 
raft.” 

With the wonderful buoyancy of youth, that re- 
fuses to be suppressed even by the most adverse 
circumstances, and aided by those great stimulants 
of happiness, plenty of hard work, and full occupa- 
tion for their minds, the three castaways set merrily 


8o 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


to work, exchanging jokes and indulging in the most 
extravagant conjectures concerning who and what 
they should find on reaching land, as they did so. 

At first sight the schooner appeared to be stripped 
of everything from which they might construct a 
raft ; but when they got the main hatch oif they 
found a couple of barrels floating in the hold. These, 
emptied of their water and plugged made a very 
buoyant foundation. To them was added the main 
hatch, the outer portion of the bowsprit, which after 
half an hour’s hard work with the axe Gale managed 
to chop off, and a few bits of the vessel’s lighter 
woodwork. Gale and Caesar, who were both pro- 
vided with sheath knives, that they carried in their 
belts, built the raft ; while Aleck explored the fore- 
castle, which the falling tide left comparatively ac- 
cessible, and brought up whatever he could discover 
of value in it. Thus he soon had spread on deck 
several bags of sailor’s clothing, a roll of canvas, an 
iron pot, a number of “ grains ” or fish spears, and 
two stout fishing lines with hooks attached, besides 
a variety of other less useful articles. 

To his great disappointment he could find no pro- 
visions, and Caesar said that as the schooner was 


ESCAPING PROM THE WRECK . 


just ending a long cruise when she was wrecked there 
had been very little of anything to eat left on board. 

At the end of three hours of hard work the raft 
was completed, and was laden with everything that 
Aleck had found, besides all the ropes and rigging 
that had still remained on the schooner. The sun 
was now beating down with a fervent heat, but in 
the afternoon when the tide turned this was pleasant- 
ly tempered by a light sea breeae, that promised to 
aid them materially on their passage towards the 
land. Gale even managed to rig up a mast, and a 
yard to which they bent an apology for a sail made 
of a square bit cut from the roll of canvas. This with 
a plank, fixed to the after end of the raft in such a 
way that it formed a clumsy steering oar, completed 
their equipment. 

When all was ready and they stepped aboard 
their rude craft, it was found to be capable of bear- 
ing them, but that was all. Its deck was very 
nearly awash, ^hile the whole affair proved so loose- 
jointed and unseaworthy, that to poor Aleck it 
seemed a most foolhardy and dangerous thing to 
trust themselves to it. As the only alternative was 
to remain behind, he reluctantly seated himself on 


82 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


it, and with a resigned expression prepared to await 
whatever fate might hold in store for him. 

In spite of its clumsy appearance the raft, aided 
by a favoring breeze and a strong current, made such 
good progress that within an hour after leaving the 
wreck they were only a couple of miles from the 
land for which they were heading, and which now 
proved to be an island. 

Suddenly Caesar, who was stationed at the for- 
ward end of the raft, called out to Gale, who was 
steering, “Look out, Cap’n ! Dar ’s a reef right 
ahead ! ” 

It was too late to do anything, and the next 
minute they were rubbing and scraping over a nar- 
row sand-bar that seemed to extend to the shore. In 
another moment the raft slid into deep water; but 
it was so badly wrenched that it seemed on the point 
of going to pieces, and they no longer dared carry 
sail. On the opposite side of the channel in which 
they now floated, and which was not more than 
twenty yards wide, they saw another bar, also ex- 
tending to the land, so there was nothing for them 
to do but to drift up the channel they were in 
wherever it might lead. 


ESCAPING FROM THE WRECK. 83 

In the meantime Aleck had become so reassured 
by the safe sailing of the earlier portion of the voy- 
age, that he had thrown overboard a hook, baited 
with a bit of white rag, in the hope of catching one 
of the fish that swarmed about them, and had made 
the inner end of the line fast about his wrist. Now, 
forgetful of this, he, with the others, watched eagerly 
the land they were approaching. Finally the cur- 
rent swept them into a narrow opening between two 
islands, and they could see open water beyond. 
They could not afford to be carried past the only 
bit of land within sight, and so, as they floated close 
to the left-hand shore, the negro, with a line knotted 
about his waist, sprang overboard and swam toward 
it. At the same instant there came a tremendous 
tug at Aleck’s wrist, and he, already partly over- 
balanced by Caesar’s sudden movement, lost his foot- 
ing and also plunged into the water, uttering a loud 
cry as he disappeared. Without an instant’s hesita- 
tion Gale sprang after him, while the raft separated 
into its component parts. 

It was fortunate that all this happened close to 
the shore ; for, with the raft tugging at the negro, 
and a big fish tugging at Aleck, their situation 


84 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


would have been hopeless had they been a few yards 
farther out in the stream. 

When they did finally reach land, and stood 
dripping and panting on the rocky bank, Aleck’s 
first exclamation was : “ I wish I might never see 
another drop of salt water again, nor step off of dry 
land again as long as I live. Oh, you monster! 
You ’d drag me in again, would you ? ” 

The latter part of this speech was addressed to 
the fish which was still tugging at the line attached 
to the boy’s wrist, and which when landed proved to 
be a fine barracouta weighing at least twenty pounds. 
At the same time Csesar pulled in all that remained 
of the raft, which was the main hatch with the axe 
lying on it. All the rest of their possessions had 
drifted far beyond their reach or gone to the bottom. 

While his companions were thus engaged, Gale 
was gazing curiously at the remains of what had 
evidently been a ship’s ways that rested half in the 
water, near the mouth of a small stream. A moment 
later, without stopping to bemoan their losses in this 
second shipwreck, he started to walk up along the 
bank of the stream, toward the interior of the island, 
and directly afterwards the others followed him. 



BLACK FIGURE FLUNG ITSELF ON ITS KNEES BEFORE HIM 























•r 















ESCAPING FROM THE WRECK. 85 

The young mate’s face wore a puzzled and ex- 
pectant expression, and he walked like one in a 
dream. As he came to a broad opening in the forest, 
in the centre of which lay a small, spring-fed lake, 
he stood still and gazed about him with an air of 
blank amazement. 

At length he said aloud : “ Well ! If this is n’t 
Sir Richard Allanson’s island, then my name is n’t 
Gale Ellicot, that ’s all ! ” 

“ Sir Richard Allanson ! ” cried a voice behind him. 
“ You know him ? ” 

“ Know him ! Of course I do ! ” answered Gale. 
“ He was my great-great-grandfather ! ” 

Then a black figure flung itself on its knees before 
him ; and, in joyful accents, the young negro 
exclaimed : 

“ Sir Rich’ you’ granfodder ! Den you know 
Black Caesar! You know Kabele, my granfodder! 
Now you kill me ! Kill you’ pore slave, an’ he be 
happy foreber an’ eber ! ” 

Looking at this strange tableau in open-eyed 
wonder, Aleck Penrose asked himself if they had 
both gone crazy, and what he had better do under 
the circumstances ? 


CHAPTER XI. 


ON BLACK CAESAR S ISLAND. 


ALE Lad not quite so much reason for astonish- 



ment as Aleck Penrose ; for, from the minute 
of setting foot on the island, it had seemed familiar 
to him. It had at once suggested the story of Sir 
Richard Allanson that he had read on that last day 
at home, but which had been wellnigh forgotten in 
the rush of succeeding events. It had been vaguely 
recalled by the wreck, the raft, and their passage 
from the reef ; but, on reaching the island, all its 
details flashed into his mind, and he had felt almost 
certain that this was the very place on which his 
ancestor had been cast away more than a century 
before. The sight of the little lake, with its great 
spring boiling up from a basin of white coral, had 
confirmed his belief. Now, however, to find himself 
in company with a direct descendant of that very 
Black Caesar to whom his great ancestor had owed 


86 


ON BLACK CESAR'S ISLAND. 87 

his life, and who on his part had also owed so much 
to his great-grandfather, seemed almost incredible. 

“Do you mean to say,” he asked of the kneeling 
figure before him, “ that Kabele, the son of Black 
Caesar the pirate, was your grandfather ? ” 

“ Yes, he my foder, my granfoder, my great- 
granfoder.” 

“ Have you ever been here before ? ” 

“ No, my fodder lib here when he pickaninny, but 
de Spanish war-man come, catch ’em, kill ’em, take 
’em away.” 

“ That accounts for the end of the colony then. 
But why do you want me to kill you ? ” 

“ Black Caesar tell Kabele, Kabele tell my fodder, 
my fodder tell me to die any time for Sir Rich’ 
Allason. Him berry good man. He your fodder, 
Black Caesar my fodder ; dey ready to die for each 
oder. I ready to die for you ; you kill me dat make 
it all right.” 

“ Well ! ” laughed Gale, extending his hand, to 
the negro, “you are a good, faithful fellow, and I ’m 
glad to have you for a friend. Of course, if you 
wish it very much I ’ll kill you when I get ready ; 
but just now I ’d rather have you live and hunt 


88 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


’round for something to eat. We shall all be dead 
of starvation before morning if we don’t find food 
of some kind.” 

“ Will you please tell me ” began Aleck, who 

had been growing more and more bewildered by 
what he heard. 

“ Yes, old man; I ’ll tell you all about it,” inter- 
rupted Gale, “ after we ’ve had supper; but I ’d 
rather eat that fish of yours raw than try to tell 
anything now. Oh ! if we only had a fire ! ” 

“ I kin get fire quick,” said Caesar, eagerly ; and 
suiting his actions to his words, he took from a small 
bag, made of a bladder, that hung from his neck, a 
steel and a bit of flint. In another moment he had 
found a handful of punk, or dry rotten wood, aud 
ignited it with a spark struck from his flint. He 
swung it rapidly about his head until a tiny flame 
appeared, and applying this to a sliver of torch- 
wood, which grew about them in abundance, he 
quickly had a fine blaze. 

The others gave a cheer as they saw this, the first 
and most important of their wants, so readily sup- 
plied. Then all hands set to work ; Gale taking the 
axe and going for a supply of dry firewood, Aleck 
































































































































♦ 



















































ON BLACK CAESAR 1 S ISLAND. 


going to clean and prepare his barracouta, and Csesar 
beginning the construction of a brush and palm-leaf 
hut in which they might be sheltered from the 
heavy night dews. 

At the end of an hour, or just as the sun was 
setting, they felt that they had good cause to regard 
the results of their labor wdth satisfaction. Caesar 
had built a most comfortable-looking hut, enclosed 
on three sides and open on the fourth, which was 
toward the lire. Gale had not only collected a pile 
of logs sufficient to keep the lire going all night if 
necessary, but had also gathered a quantity of soft 
Spanish moss, which he spread thickly over the floor 
of the hut. Aleck had cut a dozen generous slices 
from his big fish, and broiled them over a bed of 
glowing coals until they were done to a turn, and 
their appetizing fragrance pervaded the whole place. 

Certainly no meal was ever more acceptable than 
that rudely prepared fish-supper, nor did three young 
fellows ever sit down to one with greater alacrity or 
more hearty appetites. They had palmetto-leaves 
for plates, and their fingers for forks. As cups had 
not been included in their list of table furnishings, 
they were every now and then obliged to run to the 


9 o 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


spring for a drink of its cool water, especially when 
they undertook to eat a bit of fish too recently taken 
from the coals. To Caesar this style of feasting 
seemed perfectly natural, for in all his life he had 
rarely known any other. He only regretted the 
absence of the gourds or cocoanut shells that he had 
been accustomed to use in the place of cups, and 
promised to supply this deficiency the next day. To 
the others it possessed all the charm of novelty, and 
they began to think their lines had fallen in very 
pleasant places. 

At first they were too busy satisfying their hunger 
to talk ; but after a while they began to relate the 
several discoveries they had already made. Only a 
short distance from where they were Gale had found 
an ancient stone wall, overgrown with a tangle of 
vines, and apparently enclosing a field. He had not 
had time to see what the field contained, but proposed 
to do so in the morning. Aleck had found an ex- 
tensive assortment of badly rusted anchors, chains, 
rings, etc., besides a quantity of copper bolts and 
sheathing, near the place where they had landed. 
Caesar had discovered that the spring-fed pond 
abounded in fish, and had already planned a trap to 


ON BLACK CM SAKS ISLAND. 9 1 

be set in the narrowest part of the stream flowing 
from it. 

One of the great beauties of this supper was that 
there were no dishes to be washed when it was 
over, the plates being disposed of by the simple act 
of tossing them into the fire. As the shadows of 
night gathered about them, the wind also rose, and 
the air was filled with the sound of its rushing 
among the tree-tops. This only added to their 
sense of security and comfort, and made them more 
than ever thankful that they were not still on the 
wreck. 

As they lay on their couches of moss, gazing into 
the dancing flames of the fire, and enjoying its 
warmth, which the damp night-chill made very ac- 
ceptable, Aleck reminded Gale of his promise to 
explain the mysterious scene between him and 
Caesar. The young sailor willingly satisfied the 
boy’s curiosity, and told, as well as he could re- 
member it, the story of his great-grandfather’s 
experience on the Spanish treasure ship, in company 
with Black Caesar and his fellows. 

Caesar listened to the tale with even greater inter- 
est than Aleck, and expressed his approval by an 


92 THE CORAL SHIP. 

occasional exclamation of “ Dat ’s so ! ” or “ Dem ’s 
de berry words ! ” 

“ But did n’t anybody ever find the treasure ship ? ” 
asked Aleck when the story came to an end. To 
this boy, who had all his life known only the deepest 
poverty, the fact that the Spanish galleon had been 
laden with gold and silver seemed a most wonderful 
thing, and he hated to think of it as lost beyond 
recovery. 

“Not that I know of,” answered Gale. “How is 
it, Caesar? Did you ever hear any of your folks say 
anything about finding the Aztec f ” 

“ No, I don’t hear any ting. My people would n’t 
fin’ dat ole ship anyhow. Dey say it done bin 
harnted.” 

“ I expect it is haunted by mermaids and all sorts 
of sea-monsters by this time,” laughed Gale, “or 
rather I expect it was, for it must have dropped to 
pieces long ago.” 

“Then you don’t think there is any chance of our 
finding it,” said Aleck in a tone of deep disappoint- 
ment. 

“Of course not. You might as well try to find 
Noah’s ark.” 


ON BLACK CAE SAKS ISLAND. 


93 


Notwithstanding the confidence with which he 
made this assertion, Gale mentally determined to 
keep a sharp look-out for any indications of gold or 
silver on the shores of the island ; while Aleck 
openly announced his intention of beginning a search 
for the long-lost galleon the very next day. So 
they talked of treasure ships and pirates until, one 
by one, they dropped asleep, and their dreams took 
up the thread of their waking thoughts. 

The fire had burned itself out, and the night was 
very dark, when Gale was awakened by Aleck, who 
said in a low, frightened tone : “ Oh, Gale ! I can’t 
stand it any longer alone, and just had to wake you. 
I Ve been hearing the most awful sounds.” 

“ Such as what ? ” asked Gale. 

“ I don’t know exactly ; cries of distress and 
yells.” 

“ Oh, pshaw ! Probably an owl.” 

“ No, indeed ! It was louder than a hundred 
owls.” 

“Wind through the trees, then?” 

“ I tell you There ! Hear that ! ” 

And Gale did hear a long-drawn moaning, fol- 
lowed by a wild shriek that died away in a mourn- 


94 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


ful wail. It was not only startling, but absolutely 
blood-curdling, and he no longer wondered at Aleck’s 
terror. After an interval of perhaps a minute it 
was repeated louder than before, and the lad’s heart 
almost stopped its beating as he listened. 

“ It ’s de harnts ! De ghosses ob de ole ship!.” 
whispered Caesar, who had also been awakened by 
the awful sounds, and whose teeth were chattering 
with terror. 

“ Nonsense ! ” answered Gale, stoutly, “ It ’s some 
wild beast in distress. I ’m going to have a light, 
so that if he comes this way we can at least see 
him.” 

Thus saying, he stepped from the hut and began 
throwing wood on the smouldering embers of the 
fire. With its cheerful blaze their courage was 
somewhat restored, and, though the sounds were 
still heard at intervals, they did not seem quite so 
terrifying. After a while they grew fainter, and at 
length ceased entirely, but the castaways had been too 
thoroughly frightened into wakefulness for sleep to 
again visit them that night. So they watched their 
fire, and talked of what they had heard until day- 
light, which fortunately was not long in coming. 


CHAPTER XII 


MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ALECK’S COMPANIONS. 

B Y sunrise of the next morning the castaways 
had eaten a hastily prepared breakfast of 
barracouta, which Gale remarked was becoming 
monotonous as a steady diet, and were ready to 
start on their exploration of the island. 

First they stopped to finish the fish-trap on which 
Gale and Caesar had been at work while Penrose 
prepared breakfast. Then, at his suggestion, they 
visited the pile of old junk near the mouth of the 
stream, to see what it could furnish in the way of 
weapons of defence in case they met with any wild 
beasts. They could discover nothing better suited 
to their purpose than some long copper bolts which 
would answer admirably as clubs, and with which 
both Gale and Aleck armed themselves. 

Caesar regarded these with disdain, and preferred 
to trust to his long, keen-edged knife. Besides he 


95 


9 6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


had discovered an old turtle “ peg,” which is a sort 
of a spear having a short point provided with a 
shoulder that prevents it from sinking very far 
through the upper shell of a turtle. The shell con- 
tracts when pierced by such a peg, and holds it so 
firmly that the animal cannot pull away from it. 
The upper part of the peg is a socket into which 
may be loosely thrust a long pole or spear handle. 
When the peg is in use a stout line is made 
fast to it, and as the shaft is withdrawn after de- 
livering a blow, the animal is thus secured. By a 
little searching among the driftwood on the beach, 
Caesar found a slender pole that would answer for 
a shaft. Then making one end of Aleck’s stout fish- 
line fast to the peg, he declared himself ready for 
business, and promised them turtle steaks for 
dinner. 

First they directed their steps toward the stone 
wall that Gale had seen the evening before. They 
found that it enclosed a cleared field of considerable 
extent, and to their amazement discovered that this 
not only abounded in all sorts of edible products, 
that must have been planted within a few months, 
but that it had recently been cultivated. 


DISAPPEARANCE OF ALECK'S COMPANIONS. g? 

“ There must be people on the island after all ! ” 
exclaimed Aleck. 

“ It certainly looks that way,” replied Gale. “ I 
only hope they are white folks.” 

“ Or black people,” suggested Caesar ; a but I is 
powerful ’fraid dey is Injuns.” 

“ Indians ! ” exclaimed the others, in a breath ; 
while Gale added, “ I never knew there were any 
Indians down here,” and Aleck gazed apprehensively 
into the forest behind them. 

“ Yes, dey is,” answered Caesar, “ an’ dey is power- 
ful fighters too.” Then he told what he had learned 
from his father concerning the troubles of Black 
Caesar’s colony with the Indians from the mainland, 
who had made several attempts to drive them from 
the island. 

“ Oh, well ! ” said Gale, “ I don’t believe there are 
any Indians around here now. They must all have 
been killed or driven away during the Seminole war. 
At any rate I ’m going to have one of those pine- 
apples, Indians or no Indians.” 

So saying the young mate scrambled over the wall 
and cut a lusciously yellow and ripe-looking “ pine” 
that he had spied in a patch on the other side. The 


9 8 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


others followed his example, and all three declared 
the fruit to be the finest they had ever eaten. Be- 
sides pineapples, the field contained sweet-potatoes, 
tomatoes, squashes, melons, sugar-cane, and bananas, 
together with several cocoanut trees laden with 
fruit in all stages of development. 

After their feast of pineapples they continued 
their exploration of the island to its farther end, 
without seeing any other fields or a trace of human 
occupation. Nor did they discover anything to ex- 
plain the terrifying sounds of the night before. 
With the exception of birds, many of them of the 
most brilliant plumage, with which the forest 
abounded, they did not even find an animal of any 
description. 

Toward the middle of the afternoon as they were 
returning to their own end of the island, and making 
their way along its outer coast, Aleck descried a 
sail beyond the outer reef, and they stopped to gaze 
at it with longing eyes. “If we only had a boat of 
some kind ! ” said Gale, and then they gazed in 
silence. 

All at once Caesar stepped quickly forward and 
hurled his spear at some object in the water. It 


DISAPPEARANCE OF ALE CAT'S COMPANIONS. 99 

was a large green turtle, and the peg was fastened 
fairly in the middle of its shell. The handle, disen- 
gaged from its socket, floated on the water as the 
turtle dove, and the coils of the line ran rapidly out. 
Caesar finally managed to check the animal, but 
could not pull it up nor even cause it to move a single 
inch. He waited a few minutes, expecting that the 
turtle would be forced to come to the surface for air, 
but it did not appear. At the end of ten minutes, 
Caesar, who could not bear the thought of giving up 
his turtle and at the same time losing the peg with 
most of the line attached to it, declared his intention 
of going down and finding out what was the matter. 
As he had already proved himself nearly as much at 
home in the water as on land, the others made no 
objection. In another minute he had thrown off his 
scanty clothing, taken a straight header, and disap- 
peared from their sight. 

They watched eagerly for his reappearance. Slow- 
ly the seconds lengthened into a minute, and their 
eagerness was changed to anxiety. At the end of 
two minutes Gale was tearing off his clothes. 

“ Oh, Gale, don’t try it ! You ’ll only be drowned 
too ] ” cried Aleck. 


100 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“I must,” answered the young sailor. “I could 
never hold up my head again if I left that poor fel- 
low to his fate without an effort to save him. Don’t 
worry. I’ll be careful.” 

The next instant he .too had disappeared, and 
Aleck was left alone. The tide was near its full, 
and a heavy swell, rolling in, dashed high on the 
rocky coast. As the lagging seconds passed, and 
neither of his companions rose from the watery 
depths that had swallowed them, the boy became 
filled with the terror of utter helplessness and lone- 
liness He threw himself down on the rocks and 
called aloud. For answer came the same weird 
wail, the unearthly shriek, and the long-drawn moan- 
ing that had appalled him in the darkness of the 
night before. Now it was close beside him, and 
its startling nearness increased its terrifying effect 
a hundred-fold. With the sounds came a rush of 
water and the lad was drenched to the skin. 

He started to his feet with a wild cry, and had 
turned to flee from the dreadful spot, when he was 
suddenly arrested by a cheery call of “ Hello, Aleck ! 
Here we are ! ” 

In an instant a great darkness seemed rolled aside 



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DISA PPEA RA NCE OF ALECK' S COMPANIONS. IO'I 


and the sunlight returned; but the boy’s over- 
wrought feelings gave way, and when, a second 
later, Gale emerged dripping from the water, Aleck 
sat limply on the ground, sobbing as though his 
heart would break. 

“ Why, my dear fellow ! what is the matter ? ” 
cried his friend, hastily pulling on a portion of his 
clothing and bending over the lad. Just then came 
another of the unearthy sounds that had proved so 
full of terror to them all. Even Gale started as he 
heard it, though he had solved its mystery. It 
gave him a clue to a part of the lad’s trouble, 
however, and he said soothingly : 

“ That ’s nothing to be alarmed at, old man. 
It ’s only a sea forcing the air through a blow-hole 
that leads into a great cavern directly beneath us. 
The entrance to it is under water; but it ’s big 
enough for a ship to sail into. Once inside, though, 
there ’s plenty of air, and any amount of floor space 
that the water does n’t reach at all. I found Caesar 
in there wrestling with his turtle and trying to get 
him from behind a bit of rock that the beast was 
hanging on to. So I stopped a minute to help him, 
and then hurried out to report to you for fear you 


102 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


might grow uneasy. I did mean to go back, though, 
and explore the cavern, for it is the most curious 
place I ever saw.” 

“ Oh, don’t, Gale ! Don’t leave me again ! ” 
pleaded the boy, seizing the other’s hand. “ You 
can’t imagine how awful it was when I thought you 
were both drowned, and heard those dreadful noises. 
Please don’t go down there again ! ” 

“ All right, I won’t, not just now, at any rate,” 
replied Gale. “ I ’ll only help Caesar a bit with his 
turtle, and then we ’ll go home.” 

They had turtle steaks for dinner that evening as 
Caesar had promised ; they had baked sweet-pota- 
toes to go with them, besides pineapples and 
bananas for dessert. In fact, from that time on, so 
long as they remained on the island, what with tur- 
tles, fish, oysters, plenty of vegetables and fruit, our 
three castaways had nothing to desire so far as an 
abundance and variety of food was concerned. 

During the next week they were busily occupied 
in gathering supplies of these things, and in trying 
to hew and burn out a canoe from the trunk of a 
great cypress tree. They believed it to offer their 
only chance of escaping from the island, and as they 


DISAPPEARANCE OF ALECK'S COMPANIONS. 103 

had seen several vessels at a distance, they were 
almost certain that with such a craft they could put 
off to one that would take them aboard. 

Up to this time they had not seen a human being 
besides themselves, nor been in any way molested. 
They were constantly on the look-out, however, for 
the proprietors of the cultivated field, and only 
hoped they might get away before these took a no- 
tion to visit the island. In this they were doomed 
to disappointment, for one morning, Gale, who had 
gone as usual to the beach nearest the mainland to 
take a look, came running back with the startling 
news that three canoe-loads of Indians were rapidly 
approaching and would land in a few minutes. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


SAFETY UNDERNEATH THE SEA. 

I F Gale and his companions had but known it, the 
Indians from the mainland, who were an- 
nounced as approaching the island at the conclusion 
of the preceding chapter, were as peaceable and 
well-intentioned visitors as they could have had. 
They were part of a remnant who had been allowed 
to remain in the Everglades at the close of the Semi- 
nole war, and had been on friendly terms with the 
whites for many years. After the black colony had 
been removed from the island by a Spanisk man-of- 
war, the Indians had taken possession of it, and had 
ever since cultivated its abandoned field. It was 
particularly valuable to them on account of its free- 
dom from devastation by deer and other wild ani- 
mals that caused them great annoyance on the 
mainland, and here they raised their choicest crops. 
They also picked up many a valuable bit of wreck- 

104 


SAFETY UNDERNEATH THE SEA. 


105 


age on the shores of the island, and consequently 
were in the habit of visiting it every few weeks, 
often remaining several days at a time. 

All this was of course unknown to our three cast- 
aways. The only ideas that Gale and Aleck had of 
Indians had been gleaned from books of a sensa- 
tional character prepared by writers wholly ignorant 
of their subject. Thus to them all Indians were 
bloodthirsty outlaws, devoted to scalps and plunder, 
and prepared to kill a white man at sight. Caesar’s 
knowledge was of much the same character, only 
that it had come to him through the traditions of a 
century, and these had gained new horrors with each 
repetition. To his imagination, therefore, ah Indian 
was the most frightful thing on the face of the 
earth, and when Gale announced the approach of 
three canoe-loads of them, his black face assumed 
an ashen tinge, and for a moment he was overcome 
with fear. 

“ If we could only get our canoe into the water,” 
suggested Penrose. 

“ But we can’t,” answered Gale, “ and besides they 
would see us and catch us in no time if we did. No, 
there is but one thing for us to do, and that is to 


IO 6 THE CORAL SHIP. 

take to the cavern, with the hope that these fellows 
won’t stay here very long.” 

“ Oh, Gale ! Must we \ ” cried Aleck, to whom 
the submarine chambers thus proposed as a place of 
refuge possessed a terror little less than that of fall- 
ing into the hands of the Indians. 

“ Yes, there is nothing else for it, and the quicker 
we get there the better, for I hear them now at the 
mouth of the creek.” 

Aleck also heard the sound of many voices and it 
decided him at once. “ All right,” he said, “ lead on 
and we ’ll follow you, only I won’t promise to go 
into the cavern.” 

“ Come then,” said Gale, picking up the axe and 
starting toward the edge of the forest with it. 
“ Caesar, you bring the water breaker.” 

A minute later they had disappeared in the thick 
underbrush that bounded one side of the lake, and 
almost at the same time the foremost of the Indians 
entered the clearing from the opposite side. The 
fugitives paused in their flight and peered through 
the bushes long enough to catch a glimpse of him, 
as he stopped to examine their fish-trap in the stream. 
He was a tall, finely built fellow, wearing on his 




SAFETY UNDERNEATH THE SEA. 


IQ/ 


head a gaudy handkerchief in which was thrust a 
snow-white egret plume. He also wore a gay calico 
shirt belted about the waist, and in his hand he 
carried a rifle. 

As the boys looked they saw him joined by sev- 
eral companions who, after a momentary inspection 
of the fish-trap, advanced into the clearing with the 
evident expectation of discovering there the unknown 
invaders of their territory. At this the fugitives 
turned and hastened as rapidly as possible in the 
direction of the cavern. 

When they reached the rocks above its entrance the 
negro at once sprang overboard, taking the breaker 
of fresh water with him. Gale and Penrose removed 
their clothing and thrust it into the blow-hole, which, 
as the tide was low and the sea smooth, answered 
the purpose of a small entrance to the chambers be- 
neath. They pushed the things down with a stick, 
until Caesar was able to reach them from the inside. 
Thus they were assured of a supply of dry clothing 
after they should have made their watery entrance 
into their place of refuge. Gale also had the fore- 
thought to send down a small quantity of dry sticks 
and punk with a view to future fire-making. 


108 THE CORAL SHIP. 

Then Caesar re-appeared, and poor Aleck was told 
that they were ready to take him below. 

“ I can’t go ! ” exclaimed the boy, shuddering and 
drawing back from the water’s edge, “ I shall die, I 
know I shall ! ” 

“ But you must,” said Gale somewhat impatiently. 
“ There is n’t anything else to do. We can’t leave 
you here alone to be killed, and I am sure you don’t 
want us to stay and be killed with you.” 

“ But how can I do it ? You know I can’t swim 
a stroke.” 

“ That does n’t make any difference. All you 
have to do is to draw in a long breath, jump straight 
down, feet first if you prefer it, and keep perfectly 
still. Caesar and I will do the rest and have you 
safe in the cavern in no time.” 

During this conversation all three of them re- 
mained concealed behind some rocks on the water’s 
edge, whence they could command a view of the 
forest in the direction from which they had come. 
Suddenly. Caesar uttered a whispered exclamation^ 
and looking at where he was pointing, the others 
saw several dusky figures gliding silently among the 
trees. The Indians were evidently searching for 


SAFETY UNDERNEATH THE SEA. IO9 

them and would reach the place they now occupied 
in another minute. 

At this sight every vestige of color left Aleck’s 
face. He gave one wild look about him as though 
he never expected to see the sunlight again, 
drew a long breath, and before the others realized 
what he was about to do, he shut his eyes and 
sprang into the water, holding himself straight and 
rigid. 

In an instant both Gale and the negro had dived 
after him, and only a widening circle of rings 
marked the spot where they had disappeared; So 
rapid were their movements that the water had 
hardly closed over Aleck’s head before his arms 
were seized and he felt himself impelled forward. 
At this his mouth flew open and he began to 
struggle so furiously that he very nearly drowned 
his companions as well as himself before they finally 
succeeded in pulling him under the rocky arch, and 
bringing him to the surface inside the cavern. 
There he presented such a picture of comical woe, 
as he sat on the rock to which they had dragged 
him, gasping for breath and choking with the quan- 
tity of salt water that he had swallowed, that, in spite 


10 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


of being provoked at him for his struggles, the 
others could not help laughing. 

“ Oh, you cau laugh ! ” he said as soon as he found 
his voice, “ but of all awful things in this world that 
is the worst. Indian tortures can’t compare to it. 
Now you ’ve got me here, but you ’ll never get me 
out alive, for nothing will induce me to go into that 
hideous water again. I ’d rather die here than suffer 
another half hour of such agony.” 

“ Half hour ! ” exclaimed Gale, “ What do you 
mean ? You were n’t half a minute in the water ! ” 

“ I don’t care how long it was,” said Aleck. “ It 
seemed an eternity, and I’d throw myself into the 
arms of the Indians rather than to go into that 
water again.” 

The cavern into which Aleck had been brought 
so sorely against his will, extended back for an un- 
known distance into the darkness. Its roof was low 
and arched, while along its sides ran several shelves 
of coral rock. On one of these the boys were now 
perched. The blow-hole, from which such weird 
sounds were produced under certain conditions of 
wind and tide, was at the end of a narrow cleft, and 
through it a single direct ray of sunlight found its 


SAFETY UNDERNEATH THE SEA. 


I 


way to the interior. All the other light in the 
cavern came through the water at its entrance, and 
was of such a peculiar greenish hue that it invested 
the place with an air of strange unreality. 

When their eyes had grown somewhat accustomed 
to this unnatural light, the boys discovered on one 
of the rocky shelves a quantity of driftwood, 
bleached to the whiteness of bones by long exposure 
to wind and weather. As Caesar had brought his 
flint and steel with him, Gale secured the punk that 
he had thrust through the blow-hole, and proposed 
that they make some torches and explore the rear 
of the cavern, with the faint hope of discovering 
some other outlet to the upper regions of air and 
sunlight. Much as Aleck dreaded to be left alone, 
he favored this plan, because it might open a way of 
escape for him other than the one he declared he 
would never again use. Nothing, however, could 
induce him to leave his present position, and so the 
others were forced to undertake their exploration 
without him. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

aleck’s marvellous discovery. 


HEY were gone longer than they had intended, 



1 and when they returned without having dis- 
covered any other opening, Gale expected to find 
Aleck greatly distressed at their prolonged absence. 
On the contrary , they found him sitting quietly very 
nearly where they had left him, but with his face 
close to the surface of the water. He was peering 
so intently into its green depths that he did not 
notice their approach until they were close beside 
him. Then, without looking up, he called : “ Oh, 

Gale ! come here quick ! Look down there, and tell 
me what you see.” 

Gale did as requested, but his eyes were so blinded 
by the light of the torches he had just been using, 
that at first he saw nothing unusual. “ What is it ? ” 
he asked. “ I don’t see anything but a great pile of 
coral and some fish.” 


8 


112 



GALE AND ALECK DISCOVER THE CORAL SHIP 



A LECK ’ X MA R WELL 0 US DISCO VER V. 1 1 3 

“ Great pile of coral ! ” exclaimed Aleck, almost 
indignantly. “Can’t you make out the form of a 
ship ? Don’t you see the bow and the stern, and the 
stumps of masts, and that black hole in the middle 
that looks exactly like a hatchway ? One side seems 
to be all smashed in ; but it ’s a ship, I ’m sure it is, 
a regular coral ship ! ” 

“I declare, I believe you are right !” cried Gale, 
greatly excited, as he too began to trace the outline 
indicated by Aleck. “ But how on earth did you 
happen to notice it? I never should have, unless 
you had pointed it out.” 

“ By watching that ray of sunlight from the blow- 
hole,” answered Aleck. “ I noticed that wherever 
it shone I could see clear to the bottom, and I got 
interested in watching the new things I could make 
out as it moved along. By and by it reached what 
I had taken to be the point of a big lump of coral, 
and then I saw how exactly it resembled the bow of 
a ship. Oh, Gale ! what if it should really be a 
ship ? and should be the very Spanish galleon that 
your great-grandfather sailed in ! ” 

For a moment Gale returned no answer. He was 
lying flat on the rock, with his face close to the sur- 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


1 *4 

face of the water, intently studying the outlines of 
that strange mass of coral. Most of it was of a 
dingy greenish tinge, showing that its insect-builders 
were still alive and in occupation of its myriad cells. 
There were, however, patches of glistening white 
that denoted dead coral, infinitely more beautiful 
than when alive with its innumerable tenants. There 
could be no doubt that the outline as a whole was 
in perfect resemblance to that of a ship. Moreover, 
with its high stern and low bow, it was that of some 
very ancient vessel, such as he had only seen in 
pictures. There seemed no reason why, lying in 
those placid depths, absolutely motionless and un- 
disturbed by the storms that raged above it, a ship 
should not have become gradually encrusted with 
coral, and thus indefinitely preserved against the 
ravages of time. 

“ Well ! ” said Aleck, eagerly, as Gale finally rose 
to his feet, “ what do you think ? ” 

“It certainly looks very much like a ship,” replied 
Gale, cautiously. “ The only way to prove it, though, 
is for one of us to dive down there and break off 
a bit of that coral to see if there is wood beneath it.” 
With this he began to remove his clothing. 


ALECK'S MAR VELLOUS DISCO VER Y. 1 1 5 

“ No, Cap’ll ! ” exclaimed the negro, who had been 
a silent but interested listener to the conversation 
between his companions. “ Let Caesar go. Him 
swim like a fish. Maybe you git hurt.” 

The brave fellow 7 could have given no more strik- 
ing proof of fidelity and a determination to make 
any sacrifice in the service of one to whom he felt 
under an obligation, than by thus offering to inves- 
tigate an object that superstitious tradition had 
taught him to dread above all others. 

He did not w T ait for an answer, and before Gale 
could frame one he had gone, and they could see 
his black form cleaving the green waters beneath 
them. They saw 7 him reach the edge of the opening 
that they believed to be the main hatchway of the 
old ship, and pause there for several seconds. He 
was trying to tear off a bit of the projecting coral. 
He succeeded, and as he again rose to the surface he 
handed his prize to Gale. The piece of coral was 
only a few inches long, but to its base w 7 ere clinging 
some shreds of wood that had been torn off with it. 
This testimony was convincing. There was no 
longer any doubt as to the structure of the coral 
ship. 


II 6 the coral ship. 

“ Hurrah, old man ! ” shouted the young sailor, 
waving the tell-tale fragment above his head. “ It ’s 
a ship, sure enough, and I do believe it is the Aztec , 
the ‘ old gold mine,’ as Sir Richard called it. Aleck, 
you ’re a trump ! Caesar, you ’re another ! We ’re 
all trumps ! and, though we may not look it just at 
this moment, we ’re all millionaires into the bargain ! 
Now the question is, how shall we work our mine 
and develop its resources ? ” 

“ If I could only swim ! ” exclaimed Aleck, “ I ’d 
go dowm there in a minute.” 

Caesar reported that while he was at the edge of 
the hatchway he could see right through the side 
of the coral ship by means of the great hole that 
they had already noticed. 

“ Then perhaps some of her cargo has worked out 
through it ! ” suggested Gale. “ I declare I believe 
I can see it now ! ” 

“ So can I ! ” cried Aleck, whose eyesight, guided 
by his desire, would have enabled him to see almost 
anything that was suggested just then. 

There certainly was something to be seen that 
they had not noticed before, for the gleam of sun- 
light had passed over the side of the ship, and now 


ALECK'S MA R V EL LOUS DISCO VER Y. 


1 7 


penetrated to the bottom of the green water at a 
point close beside the jagged opening. There it 
shone full on a confused mass of debris that looked 
as though it had poured from the ship, and was at 
any rate distinct from the adjacent bottom. It 
might be rocks or coral ; but then it might be some- 
thing else. At any rate Gale proposed to find out. 
He explained this to Caesar as he threw off his 
clothing, and when he was ready they dived to- 
gether. 

When they again rose to the surface, Gale brought 
with him a great mass of something that required 
all his strength, aided by that of Aleck, to lift from 
the water. 

“ They are only oysters ! ” exclaimed Aleck, in a 
tone of deep disappointment. 

“ So they are,” replied Gale, viewing his prize with 
disgust. “No matter, we can eat them, and that is 
one point gained.” 

“Speaking of eating,” said Aleck, “it seems to 
me that I would rather have a good square meal 
just at this minute than a wdiole cave full of gold 
and silver.” 

“ So would I,” agreed Gale, aroused to the fact 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


I J8 

that, as it was now long past noon and they had had 
nothing to eat that day, he was ravenously hungry. 
“Even if we had brought up a bag of doubloons, 
which we have n’t, I ’d be willing to give them all 
for a bunch of those turtle yellows that Csesar thinks 
are so fine, and which really were n’t half bad after 
all.” 

A remark wffiich shows how differently the same 
thing may be regarded under differing conditions. 

While these two were thus exchanging ideas on 
the subject of hunger, Caesar brought to the surface 
and landed with considerable difficulty a block of 
coral to which neither of them paid much attention. 
Then, joining in their conversation, he announced 
that he too was so nearly starved that he was in- 
clined to go outside and see if the Indians had not 
departed ; in which case he would bring back some- 
thing in the way of food more substantial than 
oysters. 

The others protested against his undertaking any- 
thing so dangerous. 

“You must n’t think of such a thing!” cried 
Gale. 

“ You ’d certainly be captured, and then what 


ALECK'S MAR V ELL O US DISCO VER Y. 1 1 9 

would become of us, or rather me ? ” asked Aleck, 
plaintively. 

“ Injun mebbe gone ; den me bring big bunch 
banan’ ; ripe, yellow, good for heat,” urged the 
negro. 

“ We ought to have known enough to bring some 
with us when we came,” reflected Gale. 

“ How good ripe bananas would taste just now ! ” 
added Aleck. 

“ Me bring a pineap’ an’ some yam. Mebbe fin’ 
some fish. Suppose me see Injun aint nowhere, den 
come back, pull Marse Penrose out troo de watter, an’ 
we all go home to suppah.” 

“ Never,” exclaimed Aleck, firmly, “ will I leave 
the cavern that way ! ” 

“ Nonsense ! ” said Gale. 

“ It may be,” replied the boy, “ but I mean it all 
the same. I have said that I never again would go 
through that horrible water, and I never will if I 
can possibly help it. The only way you can make 
me do so is to drag me out by force, and if you do 
so I won’t even shut my mouth to help you. So all 
you ’d do would be to drown me, and then you ’d be 
murderers.” 


120 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ But you ’ll die of starvation if you remain here,” 
interrupted Gale, impatiently. 

“Oh no. You ’ll bring me things to eat,” an- 
swered Aleck, with a firm faith that his companions 
would never desert him. “ I don’t know but what 
it would be a good idea for Caesar to go out now, 
and take a little look for something. It would be 
awful to have to go all night as well as all day with- 
out anything to eat, and seems to me it ’s beginning 
to grow dark now.” 

“ All right,” assented Gale ; “ but I can’t let him 
go alone. If he goes, I must ” 

“ Oh, Gale, Gale ! ” cried Aleck, springing to his 
feet and flinging both arms about his companion as 
if to hold him fast. “Don’t think of such a thing 
for a moment. I should go crazy if you left me alone 
in this dreadful place.” 

“ All right, old man, I won’t leave you,” answered 
Gale, soothingly, “ but we must have food, that ’s 
certain. So I guess you ’d better go, Caesar, and 
make a try for something to eat. Only be awfully 
careful. Remember that we depend on you for 
everything now. You ’d better hurry, too, for the 
tide seems to be rising again and the swim is grow- 


ALECK'S MARVELLOUS DISCOVERY. 


121 


ing longer every minute. So good-bye. Take care 
of yourself and get back as quick as you can.” 

“ Yes, sail, I ’se boun’ to come back in berry little 
time, s’posin’ I is n’t cotch by dem red Injuns. Ef 
dey does cotch me — ef dey does ! Well, I ’se bid 
you good-day, Sir Rich. Allason, an’ I haint nebber 
forgit what ma ole granfodder say.” 

With these words the faithful fellow plunged 
into the darkening waters, and disappeared from the 
sight of the anxious lads. 


CHAPTER XV. 


GOLDEN OYSTEES. 

B EFORE departing on his perilous mission 
Caesar drew on his own trousers, and, by mis- 
take, Gale’s shirt, which was almost a new one. Its 
owner was inclined to be. vexed when he discovered 
his loss a few minutes after the negro’s disappear- 
ance ; but bis vexation vanished when he found that 
Caesar had left in the pocket of his own shirt his fire 
bag containing flint and steel. Now they could at 
least have a fire, and thereby render their position 
much more comfortable. The remnants of their 
torches, neglected in the excitement of diving to the 
coral ship, had long since burned out, and the rising 
waters now swept over the place where they had 
built a fire on first entering this submarine chamber. 

As Gale and Aleck knew that it could not yet be 
sundown, they wondered at the gloom in which their 
surroundings were now shrouded. Had they been 


122 


GOLDEN OYSTERS. 


123 


outside they would have realized that this was 
owing to dense, black clouds that draped the heavens 
from horizon to zenith as with a pall. It was evi- 
dent that a mighty storm was about to burst above 
the island ; and, finally, even those in the cavern re- 
ceived intimations of its coming through the mean- 
ings heard from the rock-bound blow-hole. As they 
realized the meaning of these boding sounds, they 
hoped that Caesar would hasten back, even though 
he should come without food, so as to rejoin them 
before the rising sea rendered his return impossible. 

Warned by the encroaching waters, the boys built 
their fire on the uppermost of the coral shelves, 
where lodged sticks of bleached driftwood furnished 
a ready fuel. 

“ These sticks show that at some time or other 
the water has been even as high as this ledge,” said 
Gale, as he gathered an armful of the age-whitened 
fuel. “ They are dry as bones, though, which shows 
that no water has been near them for years. Wet 
wood would hold its moisture indefinitely in this 
damp place, so I guess the ledge will keep us safe 
enough and dry enough until the tide falls again.” 

“ I hope so,” replied Aleck Penrose, with a shudder. 


124 THE CORAL SHIP . 

In their retreat to this place of fancied security, 
the boys did not neglect to carry the bunch of 
oysters with them, and they anticipated a feast 
from these as soon as the fire should be hot enough 
to open them. Not being accustomed to the use of 
flint and steel, however, they experienced the greatest 
difficulty in procuring a blaze, and it was not until 
after half an hour of persistent effort, that Gale suc- 
ceeded in lodging a spark in the fragment of punk 
with which he had provided himself that morning. 
Whirling this rapidly about his head, in imitation of 
Caesar, he was rewarded by a glowing coal which, 
gently inserted among the shavings and slivers pre- 
pared by Aleck, and vigorously blown upon, finally 
leaped into the desired flame. Judiciously feeding 
this with dry sticks, the boys soon had a fierce cheery 
blaze, that illumined the cavern for many yards 
about them. 

Although this was calculated to add greatly to 
their comfort, it was also the cause of increasing 
their uneasiness, for it showed them how steadily the 
waters had risen since they had retreated to this 
last place of refuge. Already the point at wdiich 
they had parted with Caesar had disappeared beneath 


GOLDEN OYSTERS. 


125 


the heav mg flood, that now looked ominously black, 
and reflected the ruddy firelight from certain angles, 
as though bloodshot eyes were taking furtive 
glimpses of the situation. At the same time the 
moanings of the blow-hole were mightily increased 
in volume and frequency. 

“ I ’m afraid there ’s no use watching any longer 
for Caesar,” said Gale, as he noted these ominous in- 
dications. “It looks as though there was a big 
storm on deck, and, if there is, Caesar is too wise a 
fellow to risk the chance of being dashed against the 
rocks while trying to get back to this place. He ’ll 
have to wait now until the sea goes down, or 
until another daylight shows him how to avoid its 
dangers, and we might as well make up our minds 
to pass the night where we are.” 

“ I think he might have called through the blow- 
hole and told us what he was doing,” said Aleck. 

“So he might, and perhaps he has, only we 
have n’t heard him above the howling of the wind. 
He may be there at this very minute, and I ’in going 
to make a try to communicate with him.” 

Thus saying, the impulsive young mate dropped 
off his perch into the water, and cautiously waded 


126 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


to the bottom of the crevice that led to the outer 
world. He found the place with some difficulty, 
and with the full strength of his lungs shouted up 
through the aperture, “ Caesar ! Oh, Caesar ! ” 

An unearthly moan, caused by a rush of insucked 
air, was his only answer. 

Again he bent his head for a shout. At that in- 
stant a huge wave broke his foothold and swept him 
helplessly away ; while, with a shriek that echoed 
through the cavern as though in mockery of his 
puny efforts, a volume of its water rushed up 
through the crevice and was spouted high in the 
outer air. 

Aleck Penrose uttered a cry of consternation, as, 
by the dancing firelight, he perceived what had hap- 
pened to his friend ; but he retained sufficient 
presence of mind to reach out and grasp one of 
Gale’s hands as the latter was being swept past the 
ledge. Fortunately, the energy of the wave was 
nearly spent ; and, with Aleck’s aid, Gale succeeded 
in regaining the rocky shelf on which the fire still 
blazed so cheerily. 

“ That telephone is evidently closed for the night,” 
remarked the young mate lightly as he seated him- 


GOLDEN OYSTERS. 


127 


self clos£ beside the fire, and began to wring the 
water from his soaked garments. 

“ Oh, Gale ! it is dreadful ! perfectly dreadful ! 
If you had been drowned, I should have jumped in 
and drowned too. I never could have stayed here 
alone.” 

“ Drowned ! ” repeated Gale, in a tone of surprise, 
“ who said anything about being drowned ? I never 
thought of such a thing. If it had n’t been for you 
though I might have been flung against those rocks, 
and had some bits of bark rubbed off. So I ’m ever 
so much obliged to you for grabbing me as you did. 
Ugh ! but it ’s cold ! What a lucky thing it is that 
we have got this fire. Now let ’s put on the oysters 
and have supper. That bunch of oysters is another 
mighty lucky thing. If it had been merely a lump 
of gold or silver, as I hoped when I found it lying 
beside the coral ship, we would have gone to bed 
hungry this night.” 

Thus, by a seemingly careless and light-hearted 
manner of regarding their situation, did Gale strive 
to banish his comrade’s fears. In reality his own 
heart was as heavy as lead, and he looked forward 
to spending a night in that place with the deepest 


28 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


anxiety. It would never do to show this to Aleck, 
though. The boy was already white-lipped, and 
shaking as with an ague. 

“ What do you suppose has become of Caesar ? ” 
asked the latter. 

“ Oh, he ’s all right, and I have no doubt is 
worrying more about us than we are about him ; but 
he ’ll find his way back here as soon as the tide falls.” 

“ Do you really think it will fall again before it 
rises high enough to drown us ? ” 

“ What an absurd idea ! Of course it will. I 
won’t say but what if it was a spring flood it might 
not fill this place to the roof, especially with such a 
storm as seems to be raging outside to help it. 
This is the dark of the moon though, and a season 
of neap tides; so I don’t believe it can rise much 
higher than it is now. That ’s another instance of 
our good luck. Hello ! There they go ! Have an 
oyster ? See, one fellow has opened. Take him 
quick before he is all frizzled up and spoiled.” 

While he had been talking, Gale had raked a bed 
of coals from the fire, and placed his bunch of 
oysters in their midst, where they soon began to 
open with the heat. 


GOLDEN OYSTERS . 


29 


The boys were so very hungry, that they willingly 
ran the risk of burning both fingers and tongues by 
snatching the delicious morsels from the hot shells 
as fast as they opened, and transferring them to their 
moutbs with the same movement. 

“ My ! but are n’t they good ! ” exclaimed Gale. 
“ That old coral ship was worth finding after all. 
I ’m going down there for another bunch first thing 
in the morning.” 

“ Best things I ever tasted,” replied Aleck, oblivi- 
ous for the moment of his dismal surroundings. 

“ I wonder what this bunch is formed around,” 
asked Gale, reflectively, after his hunger was some- 
what appeased. “ Oysters always fasten themselves 
to something or other, you know.” 

To satisfy his curiosity the young mate gave the 
bunch several quick blows with the back of his 
sheath knife. Half a dozen of the empty shells 
broke off and fell into the fire, disclosing a small 
portion of the surface to which they had clung. 

u It looks like metal ! ” cried Aleck, gazing keenly 
at the space thus laid bare. 

“ It is metal ! ” exclaimed Gale, excitedly, as he 
scratched the dully gleaming surface with the point 


130 THE CORAL SHIP . 

of his knife. u It is not only metal, but it is a soft 
yellow metal. Oh, Aleck ! Can it be ? ” 

At that moment a smooth, oily-looking wave 
lifted itself with a mighty effort, and swept entirely 
over the ledge on which our young castaways were 
seated. With a great hissing, and amid clouds of 
steam, the fire was suddenly extinguished. In an 
instant the vast echoing cavern was filled with a 
darkness as profound as it was dreadful. 

With cries of terror the lads sprang to their feet, 
and, groping for each other, clung together for 
mutual support. For a few moments even stout- 
hearted Gale Ellicot was panic-stricken and un- 
nerved ; while poor Aleck, who had always claimed 
that he was a coward, sobbed aloud with fright. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


THE TURNING OF THE TIDE. 


N GROSSED by their recent interests, our 



JL^ young castaways had almost forgotten their 
sad plight. They had ceased to listen for the steadily 
recurrent moanings from the blow-hole, and had even 
neglected to note the rising of the tide. Now the 
triumphant waters, dashing against the rocks, seemed 
to chuckle at having so neatly entrapped them, and 
the ghastly tidings were borne with hoarse boomings 
to the remotest recesses of the cavernous darkness. 
The unearthly shrieks from the blow-hole, seemingly 
a hundred-fold louder than before, echoed and re- 
echoed through the rock-walled galleries like de- 
moniac laughter; and as they listened to the boding 
sounds the lads grew so faint with terror that their 
limbs almost refused to support them. 

“ Hello, old man ! This will never do ! ” cried 
Gale, rousing himself with a brave effort, and forcing 


132 


THE CORAL SHIP, 


himself to speak with a show of cheerfulness. “ Keep 
a stiff upper lip, Aleck. We are not lost yet by a 
long shot. The tide can’t rise much higher, and 
though we certainly are in a very uncomfortable 
position, I don’t believe we are in any danger of 
losing our lives.” 

“ Oh, Gale ! don’t you, really ? Do you still think 
there is the slightest hope ? ” 

“ Hope ! of course I do ; bushels of it. The tide 
would have to rise five feet more to drown us, and I 
never heard of such a tide as that down here, except 
during a hurricane. This is n’t hurricane season 
though. It is another bit of luck for us, you see, to 
be caught in such a scrape in a place where we can 
only get a wetting, instead of up in the Bay of 
Fundy, for instance, where the tides are twenty or 
thirty feet high. All we ’ve got to do here is to 
stand still until the water falls again, or perhaps we 
can feel our way back to where the floor of the 
cavern is higher. Caesar and I found such a place 
while we were exploring.” 

With this the young mate made a motion as 
though about to seek other quarters. 

“ No, Gale ! don’t move,” begged Aleck. “ A 


THE TURNING OF THE TIDE. 


33 


single step might carry us off the ledge into deep 
water. Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! Why did n’t I watch 
that w T ater as it rose ? ” 

“ Yes, why did n’t we?” echoed Gale, careless of 
what he said, so long as he could divert his com- 
panion’s thoughts. “ Why did n’t we station a look- 
out and keep the lead going, instead of stuffing 
ourselves with oysters, and trying experiments with 
unknown metals ? By the way, did you notice how 
yellow that stuff looked ? Do you suppose it could 
have been gold ? ” 

“ I don’t know, and I don’t care. All the gold in 
the world is n’t worth thinking about now. I can’t 
think of anything except dear little Jess, my sister, 
you know, who has n’t any one in the world to love 
her but me. Oh, I must live for her sake ! I must ! 
I must ! And I will too,” Aleck added, clinching his 
teeth. “ I will never give in so long as my head is 
above this awful water.” 

“ That ’s right, my hearty ! That ’s the way to 
talk ! I ’ve got to live too, for I have a sister, as well 
as a mother, and a brother, and a home all de- 
pendent upon me. So you see I ’ve just got to get 
out of this place and back to them.” 


134 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Thus, in talking of their dear ones, and cheering 
each other with helpful words, these brave young 
souls bade defiance to the horrors surrounding 
them. 

For an hour longer the waters continued to gain 
on them, until they stood knee-deep in it, and 
occasional swells rose to their waists. They were 
chilled almost to numbness, and wearied beyond 
ordinary endurance ; but they would not give in, 
they could not. 

At length, after a prolonged silence, during which 
Aleck leaned so heavily on his companion that the 
latter feared he had fainted, Gale aroused him with 
a shout. 

“ We are going to pull through all right, old man ! 
The tide has turned ! The water is below my knees ! 
Thank God ! Thank God ! We shall get out of this 
yet, and I shall again see the little old home. I 
know I shall.” 

Had it been light enough, Aleck might have seen 
big, hot tears of thankfulness filling the brave blue 
eyes, from which no amount of terror or pain could 
have extracted aught save unflinching defiance. 

So the long, terrible night wore itself slowly 


THE TURNING OF THE TIDE. 


35 


away. The waters subsided until the ledge was no 
longer submerged, and the lads gratefully stretched 
their pain-racked bodies on its hard, wet surface. 
The horrid night- voices of the cavern gradually 
sank into moans and murmurs, that were finally 
merged in an absolute stillness, and then, at last, 
there came a suspicion of gray light, almost unde- 
finable, but yet a true herald of day. Very shortly 
now would the occupants of that awful dungeon be 
awakened from their hideous nightmare, and restored 
to life with all that it held of joyful promise. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


SIXTY PEBBLES MARK ONE HOUR. 

OR some time after the thin ray of light, filter- 



ing through the narrow crevice of the blow- 
hole, announced the welcome dawn of day, the 
waters, that still rolled up the deep channel of the 
cavern with serpentine undulations of their smooth 
surface, remained black and unfathomable. Then 
they gradually assumed a greenish hue, that was 
faintly reflected throughout the vast rock-walled 
chamber. 

“That means sunrise ! ” cried Gale, joyfully ; “and 
now we must set about getting out of this place as 
quickly as possible. I ’d rather trust to the mercy 
of Indians or pirates, than pass another such night 
as we have just gone through with. I don’t mind 
telling you now, old man, that at one time I lost all 
hope of ever seeing daylight again. If the water 
had raised a few inches higher, I know I should 


136 


SIXTY PEBBLES MARK ONE HOUR. 1 37 

have given out. I can’t understand, though, what 
caused such a rise, anyway. The storm must have 
driven in a regular tidal-wave, for the water rose 
higher than the highest mark of the highest spring 
tides, as was shown by that lodged driftwood. 
Anyhow, it was higher than I ever want to see it 
again, so now let ’s make a bold move for sunlight 
and freedom, and get out of here before the waters 
return.” 

“You can go, Gale, and you must, of course; but 
I don’t see any chance of me ever leaving this place 
alive,” said Aleck, with a pathetic quaver in his 
voice. The poor lad was faint and exhausted from 
the terrible strain of the long night, and completely 
unmanned by the apparently insurmountable diffi- 
culties that the situation still presented. 

“You know I can’t go without you, old fellow,” 
replied Gale, in a determined tone. “ If you could 
only swim, how simple it would all be,” he added 
reflectively. 

“ But I can’t, and if I could, nothing would induce 
me to enter that dreadful water again,” answered 
Aleck, despairingly, and with a shuddering glance 
at the cruel depths. 


38 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ Or if Caesar would only come,” continued Gale, 
“ and I can’t imagine why he does n’t. I am afraid 
something serious has happened to him. Yes, some- 
thing must have happened, or he would have been 
here long ago.” 

“You must go and find out,” said Aleck, faintly. 

“Yes, I suppose I must,” answered Gale, gazing 
meditatively at his companion ; “ but I hate the 
very thought of leaving you here alone, even for 
a few minutes.” 

“You can’t hate it or dread it as much as I do ; 
but I can bear it if you will only promise to come 
back. You ’ll do that, won’t you, Gale ? And you 
won’t be gone more than an hour at the very 
longest ? If you are, I shall go crazy. I shall sit 
here and count, and if you have n’t come back by 
the time I have counted sixty times sixty, I shall 
know that you are not coming at all, and that I ’ve 
nothing more to hope for.” 

The lad’s tone was so pathetic that it made Gale’s 
heart ache, but he answered cheerily : 

“ Of course I ’ll come back, old man, and in a 
very few minutes, too. I only mean to take a little 
look around and try to pick up something for us to 


SIXTY PEBBLES MARK ONE HOUR . 1 39 

eat. I ’ll sing out down the blow-hole to let you 
know I ’ve got ashore all right. Then, before you 
have counted a score of your sixties, I ’ll be back 
again with breakfast and the latest news. Perhaps 
I ’ll bring Csesar, too. Now good-bye, and don’t 
worry one little bit, for we ’ll get out of this scrape 
all right yet, see if we don’t.” 

There was a lingering hand-clasp between the two 
lads, and then Gale plunged into the green-tinted 
waters. For a moment Aleck could see his swiftly 
moving body, and then it disappeared in the dark 
shadow of the rocky portal. Thus left alone, the 
poor boy’s remnant of strength deserted him ; and, 
flinging himself face downward on the wet rocks, he 
cried out in his despair : “ I shall die in this place ! 
I know I shall ! I know I shall ! ” 

Suddenly he heard a voice as clearly as though 
the speaker stood in the cavern and within a few 
yards of him. “ Hello, old man ! Are you there ? 
I ’m all right ! there *s been an old howler of a hur- 
ricane up here, and I don’t see any trace of a living 
soul.” 

The welcome sound caused the lad who was still 
imprisoned to spring to his feet, and he eagerly 


140 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


shouted a reply : “ Yes, I ’in here, Gale, and so glad 
you are safe. Now please hurry.” 

“ All right. I ’m off now to look for breakfast. 
Good-bye.” 

After that how slowly the minutes, as represented 
by counts of sixty each, dragged away to the lonely 
lad in the cavern. What an eternity each one 
seemed ! If it were not for the record of his count, 
which he kept by rows of pebbles, ten in each row, 
Aleck would have deemed that hours instead of 
minutes had passed, long before the sixth row of 
pebbles was reached. The dim depths of the cavern 
seemed to swarm with vague but terrible forms, 
ready to spring at him. He dared not look around, 
but kept his gaze fixed on the single ray of bright 
light that formed the sole connecting link between 
him and the outer world. It fell on his rows of 
pebbles, and moved as these increased in number. 
As they did so, Aleck’s count became slower, and 
his heart grew heavier. What should he do if the 
end of the sixth row were reached, and Gale had 
not returned ? The latter had said he would be 
back within twenty minutes ; but the second row 
of pebbles had long since been passed. 


SIXTY PEBBLES MARK ONE HOUR . 141 

At length the fifth row was complete, and the 
sixth was well under way. Gale had been killed or 
borne into captivity, and he should never see him 
again. Aleck was convinced of this now ; but he 
continued his count mechanically, and laid his peb- 
bles without a thought of what he was doing. 

All at once there came a shout, apparently from 
close beside him, and a yellow object dropping from 
above, landed among the pebbles, scattering confu- 
sion through the orderly rows. 

“ Hello, down there ! Here I am again, safe and 
sound, and there ’s a banana for your breakfast. 
Look out for another, and for this one, and this. 
I ’d send a pineapple if the hole was only a little 
larger ; but it will keep until you get out here. 
Now watch out for me. I ’m going around by the 
front door.” 

These words were like music from Heaven to the 
despairing lad, and in a moment his counting of 
minutes, his fears, and his sufferings were forgotten. 
With his whole soul concentrated in the gaze, he 
fixed his eyes on the green waters, and watched for 
the coming of his friend. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


aleck’s friendship is tested. 

S Aleck Penrose gazed eagerly into the green 



± V depths, a dim form, like that of some huge 
fish, emerged from the shadowy portal, and, in 
another moment, Gale shot to the surface and 
scrambled out on the rocky ledge. 

“ There ! ” gasped the swimmer, flinging his wet 
hair from his eyes, and shaking himself like a water- 
dog. “ Did n’t I tell you I ’d be back inside of 
twenty minutes ? I wish I ’d said half an hour, 
though, for I had n’t time to visit lots of places I 
wanted to.” 

“Oh, Gale ! ” interrupted Aleck, reproachfully, 
“ you ’ve been gone a full hour, for I have 
counted.” 

“ Hour ! Nonsense ! It can’t be. Why, I hurried 
like everything. You must have counted too fast, 
or kept a wrong tally, for I am certain I was n’t 
gone half that time.” 


142 


ALECK'S FRIENDSHIP IS TESTED. 


143 


“ Well, it seemed like ten hours,” sighed Aleck, 
as he picked up a banana and began to eat it 
hungrily. 

“There has been a tremendous storm,” continued 
Gale, also eating a banana as he spoke, “ and I begin 
to think we were mighty lucky not to be out in it. 
Trees were blown down in every direction, and the 
lower end of the island, as far as the pond, has evi- 
dently been under water. Our canoe has disap- 
peared, and so have those of the Indians. I expect 
their owners went in them, though, and either killed 
poor Caesar or carried him off as a prisoner, for I 
can’t find a trace of him. So the way is clear for us 
to get out of here as soon as we please, and after 
that is accomplished we will decide what to do.” 

“ How good these bananas are,” remarked Aleck, 
irrelevantly, anxious to postpone the discussion of 
an unpleasant topic as long as possible. 

“ Are n’t they ? and filling, too ? I did n’t half 
believe it when Mr. Almy told us that the banana 
was the most perfect fruit in the world, because it 
alone contained all the elements necessary to the 
support of human life. I do now, though, for I feel 
as strong as though I had just eaten a hearty break- 


144 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


fast of beefsteak, and eggs, and hot biscuit, and 

buckwheat cakes with maple syrup, and ” 

“ Do you feel as though you had had a cup of 
coffee, too ? ” asked Aleck. 

“Well, no, not exactly; and, come to think of it, 
where is our water-breaker ? ” 

“ I ’m sure I don’t know, and I ’m awfully thirsty, 
too.” 

“ All the more reason for our getting out of here, 
and I have thought of a way to do it.” 

“You have?” cried Aleck, his face lighting with 
anticipation. “ What is it ? ” 

“ I ’ll tell you as soon as I make arrangements,” 
replied Gale. “ I ’ve got to go out again, but I ’ll be 
right back. Honest, I won 1 1 be gone ten minutes 
this time.” 

“ Oh, Gale ! Must you ? ” 

“ Yes, I must, so here goes. Good-bye.” 

With these words the active young fellow, who 
seemed to poor Aleck to be almost as much at home 
in the water as a fish, dived out of sight, and, in 
another minute, his cheery assurance of safety was 
transmitted through the narrow aperture above 
Aleck’s bead. 


ALECK } S FRIENDSHIP IS TESTED. 145 

He did not remain away longer than the specified 
time, and when he again entered the cavern he pulled 
after him two lengths of a rope-like vine, very slen- 
der, but extremely tough. 

“ Whew ! ” he exclaimed, as he regained his breath. 
“ That was a drag, you ’d better believe, and I came 
mighty near letting go before I got them in here. 
Now look here, old fellow. I know how you dread 
the water, but you simply must go into it once more, 
for there is n’t any other way out of this place. If 
Caesar was here we would just pick you up and carry 
you out by main strength, the same way we brought 
you in here : but as he is n’t, I ’ve got to make these 
ropes help us in his place. You see, I am securing 
the larger one to this rock, and the other end of it is 
made fast outside. It is a guide line, by which you 
must pull yourself along. The other rope I am 
going to knot, so, under your arms. Now I shall 
go outside and haul on it. The moment I begin to 
pull, you must catch hold of the guideline and jump 
overboard. After that we will have you out of here 
in no time. Don’t say a word. It ’s the only way, 
and you must take it. Just draw in a long breath 
and pull on the guide line all you know how. In 


146 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


two minutes from now you ’ll be standing outside 
in the blessed sunlight ; and I tell you it ’s fine out 
there, after twenty-four hours of this place. Ugh !” 

Here Gale looked about him with a shudder, and 
then, without another word, he sprang into the water 
and disappeared. 

Aleck, with bloodless face, stood where he had 
been left, like one paralyzed ; but when a tug came 
on the line that ‘was fastened about his body, he 
flung his arms around a projecting point of rock and 
refused to move. 

“ What is the matter down there ? ” called Gale 
through the blow-hole, after a minute of ineffectual 
tugging on one side and stubborn resistance on the 
other. 

“ It ’s no use, Gale ! I can’t do it,” shouted Aleck 
in reply, “ but I ’ve thought of another plan. This 
rock can be cut with an axe. I know, for I have 
tried it. Now, if you will drop a line through the 
blow-hole, I ’ll send up our axe by it. Then, if you 
will only chop the hole a little larger, I can get out 
through it. I know I can. You ’ve no idea how 
thin I can make myself when I try.” 

u All right ! ” shouted Gale, cheerily, u I ’m per- 


ALECK 'S FRIENDSHIP IS TESTED. 


i4 7 


fectly willing to try your plan. So send up the axe. 
Here ’s your line.” 

Almost breathlessly the captive lad listened to 
the ringing blows from above that promised him a 
deliverance from his prison, without undergoing the 
frightful ordeal of water. 

All at once they ceased, and his friend’s voice came 
to him clearly, but in tones of agonized distress. 

“ Oh, Aleck ! help, quick ! Help ! or I ’m — 
Oh-h-h ! ” 

The cry died away in a moan, and then all was 
still. 

“ What is it, Gale ? What is the matter ? Oh, 
Gale, speak to me ! Gale ! Gale ! ” 

Aleck’s despairing shout was pitiful in its inten- 
sity, but it remained unanswered. 

For a moment he stood irresolute, gazing into the 
green depths beneath him. A wave of blood crim- 
soned his face, and then receded, leaving a deathly 
pallor in its place. He inhaled a long breath, 
clenched his teeth, and with a firm clutch of the 
guide line sprang into the dreaded water. 

Love for his friend had overcome Aleck’s fear, 
and proved stronger than his love for himself. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


A BRAVE COWARD. 


HEN Aleck Penrose, who called himself a 



coward, and was believed to be such by- 


most of his acquaintances, took that leap into the 
water, braving what he believed to be an almost 
certain death for the sake of his friend, he per- 
formed as fine an act of heroism as has ever been 
recorded. The danger to himself, his own fears, 
and his unconquerable dread of the dim depths into 
which he must plunge, were accounted as nothing 
beside his desire to reach the friend whom he be- 
lieved to be in some deadly peril. 

Most of us have a cowardly fear of one thing or 
another. We are afraid of the dark, or of physical 
pain, or of the ridicule which sometimes greets our 
efforts to do right, or of some of the thousand bug- 
a-boos that rise up to terrify us and render our 
lives miserable. To dread these things, or even to 


A BRAVE COWARD . 


149 


fear them, is no proof of cowardice, though it is 
cowardly to flee from or yield to them. Many a 
soldier, w r ho has afterwards proved himself to be 
among the bravest of the brave, has been made ill 
with fright on being ordered into his first battle, or 
has turned pale and trembled so as to be hardly 
able to stand at the first scream of a shell. If he 
should yield to this terror and run away he would 
indeed be a coward ; but if he overcomes it, and 
performs his duty in spite of it, he is doubly a hero, 
and proves himself braver than those of his com- 
rades who have had no such fears to contend with. 

There was once a splendid fellow who feared 
nothing in life, but had an overwhelming dread of 
death. He would not speak of it nor consider it iu 
any way if he could help it, and he often said that 
he knew he should prove to be a miserable coward 
wdien he met it, no matter how easily it came to 
him. When it finally appeared before him, sud- 
denly, and in a most agonizing form, and the doctors 
told him that he had but an hour longer to live, he 
lay for a minute like one stunned. In that brief space 
he strove with the terror of a lifetime, and conquered 
it. During the succeeding hour he gave no sign of 


150 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


physical suffering nor mental agony, but calmly set- 
tled his business affairs, dictated several letters, 
soothed his distracted wife, bade his loved ones 
farewell as cheerfully as though he were only going 
on a short journey, and died with a bright smile on 
his face as quietly as one who is falling into a 
peaceful slumber. Could he be called a coward ? 
I think not, and yet he had always feared the meet- 
ing with this one enemy. 

Such things go to prove that it is never fair to 
accuse any person of cowardice until he has either 
run away from his cause for terror, or, what is 
worse, yielded to it without a struggle. 

Aleck Penrose called himself a coward and be- 
lieved himself to be one, but was mistaken. Gale 
Ellicot knew better. The boy had proved his brav- 
ery when they left the Egret together, and Gale 
knew that, in spite of surface indications, his com- 
rade’s heart was as true as steel. Therefore, when 
the young mate found that his axe made almost no 
impression on the flint-like crust of rock inclosing 
the blow-hole, and that it was impossible, without 
proper tools, to enlarge the aperture so as to make 
an exit from the cavern, he employed a ruse, the 


A BRAVE COWARD . 


151 

success of which depended entirely upon Aleck’s 
bravery. He uttered an appeal for help that the 
imprisoned lad could not fail to hear, remained 
silent to the answering cry, and with a hand on the 
rope that led into the cavern confidently awaited 
results. 

Under most circumstances this would have been 
a mean and cowardly thing to do, but, as matters 
stood, Gale felt himself justified in resorting to it. 
In fact, the puzzled fellow could think of no other 
plan for the release of his comrade. He could not 
leave Aleck in the cavern, nor could he drag him 
out against his will. So he made a false appeal to 
the lad’s generous bravery, and it was nobly an- 
swered. Gale had been obliged to act quickly, for 
fear lest Aleck should undo the line fastened about 
his body, and thereby frustrate the only plan for 
escape that promised the slightest chance of success. 

The moment Gale knew, by feeling a sudden 
strain on the guide line, that the imprisoned lad had 
leaped into the water, he began to pull with a 
furious energy on the second line, and to his joy 
was made aware by its heavy drag that it was still 
attached to his comrade’s body. 


152 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Oh, how slowly it came in ! Then, for a moment, 
it refused to yield an inch. Gale was on the point 
of relaxing his strain and of leaping overboard, when 
it gave, and he could again haul it in. A few sec- 
onds later, and the young mate had dragged his 
precious burden from the waters, and laid it gently 
on the rocks high above their reach. Aleck’s eyes 
were closed ; he was unconscious, and his face w*as 
bleeding from cruel contact with the sharp coral 
points studding the submarine portal through which 
he had been drawn. He was to all appearances 
dead, and might soon have been so in truth if Gale 
Ellicot had not known exactly what to do. 

In his sailor experience Gale had witnessed the 
restoration of more than one person who was appar- 
ently drowned, and now he had no idea of letting 
this precious life slip from him. He did not begin 
with rubbing and slapping; those were for circula- 
tion, and would come afterwards. Breathing was the 
first thing, and to promote this, Gale turned his 
patient on his face with one arm bent under his fore- 
head. By this means the tongue was made to fall 
forward and a chance was given for the throat, 
mouth, and nostrils to clear themselves of water. At 


A BRAVE COWARD. 


53 


the same time Gale maintained a steady pressure for 
a few seconds on the small of his patient’s back, that 
helped to expel whatever water he might have swal- 
lowed. 

There was a little heap of clothing lying near, 
both Gale’s and Aleck’s, that the former had drawn 
up through the blow-hole when he left the cavern 
the second time, and which was now nearly dried by 
the sun. Taking a coat from this, and folding it into 
a small bundle, Gale placed it beneath his patient’s 
chest, and then he began to roll the body gently on 
its side and briskly back again, pressing with his 
hands just beneath the shoulder-blades each time 
that it resumed its first position. This rolling mo- 
tion and pressing on the back was repeated every 
four or five seconds for about one minute, at the end 
of which time the young operator had the intense 
satisfaction of hearing his patient gasp, and knew 
that a natural breathing had been restored. 

Now for circulation. Stripping off the wet shirt 
and drawers, which were the only garments worn by 
the rescued lad, Gale began to rub his limbs vigor- 
ously, upward, every now and then stopping to slap 
the soles of the feet smartly. He had neither towels 


154 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


nor hot- water bags ; but there was an abundance of 
hot sun, and he soon had the pleasure of seeing a 
flush of color tinge the boy’s pallid cheeks. Now 
Gale wrapped his patient in all the dry clothing 
there was to be had, and, cutting a big palmetto leaf, 
thrust it into a crevice so that it shaded Aleck’s 
face. As he did this the latter opened his eyes, 
gazed vaguely at his friend for an instant, closed 
them again, and fell into a quiet sleep. 

Gale was jubilant. Not only was his beloved 
comrade escaped from that awful cavern, but the 
dreaded results of that escape had been averted. 
But his anxieties were not yet ended. Now that 
Aleck was peacefully sleeping, his awakening must 
be prepared for ; and, with the limited resources at 
hand, this was no easy task. 


CHAPTER XX. 


FEATHERED HUNTERS FETCH A DINNER. 

H, if Caesar were only here,” said Gale to him- 



self, repeating the wish that he had already 


formed a dozen times that day. He hated to leave 
Aleck in his present helpless condition, but there 
was no help for it. Food and water must be pro- 
vided against the boy’s awakening. Then, too, he 
had no fire nor means of making one ; for Caesar’s 
fire-bag had been lost the night before, and nothing 
would have tempted even stout-hearted Gale Ellicot 
to dive into that submarine cavern just then to 
search for it. So, with a parting glance at his sleep- 
ing comrade, he started in the direction of their 
camp, and of the field on which he depended for 
supplies of food. 

Upon reaching the camp-site he found, to his dis- 
may, that the hut built by Caesar and in which they 
had dwelt so comfortably during the past ten days, was 


1 5 6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


completely destroyed, though whether by the storm 
or by Indians he could not tell. Of the provisions 
they had collected, not a trace remained. The only 
articles of value that he picked up were a couple of 
gourds for holding water, the bowl-like upper shell 
of the turtle that had first directed them to the 
cavern, and several great bolts, that had been brought 
from the pile of old metal near the landing. While 
searching for these things, Gale’s eye caught sight of 
the faintest possible film of smoke rising from near 
the shore of the little lake. Hastening to the spot 
he was rejoiced to find, among the ashes of what had 
evidently been the Indian’s camp-fire, a smoldering 
ember that in a few minutes more would have ex- 
pired. Very carefully he breathed the breath of life 
into it, and coaxed it with splinters, until at length 
a welcome flame leaped merrily forth. Then he 
gathered sticks and logs, until he had a fire that 
would burn for hours. Now for some sweet-potatoes 
and bananas from the field, and then he would go 
back and look after Aleck. 

“ If I only had something in the shape of meat to 
make a stew of, or even a fish,” he thought, as he 
walked toward the field. “ Potatoes, and bananas, and 


FEA THE RED HUN TERS FE TCH A DINNER . I 5 7 

such things, are good enough in their way ; but when 
a fellow has been through what Aleck has, he needs 
something warm and strengthening to brace him up.” 
Gale saw several flocks of pretty little bronze doves, 
and a number of quail, at which he threw bits of 
rock, in a vain attempt to secure one for a stew. Al- 
though they seemed quite fearless, they were not 
tame enough to be knocked over in any such fashion, 
and he soon gave over his fruitless efforts. 

While the young mate was grubbing for sweet 
potatoes with his hands, for want of a better imple- 
ment, he was startled by a series of harsh screams in 
the air overhead. Glancing up he saw two great 
birds circling high above him. One was evidently 
in pursuit of the other. At first they were too dis- 
tant for him to distinguish their nature ; but, as they 
gradually approached the earth, he discovered that 
one was a hawk, holding some object in its talons, 
and that the other was that freebooter of the skies, 
a bald-headed eagle. 

At length, with a savage scream and a fierce 
swoop, the eagle darted at the hawk so furiously, 
that, to escape the onslaught, the latter was com- 
pelled to drop his burden and seek safety in a 


58 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


swifter flight. At this the winged robber, paying 
no further heed to the slave whom he thus com- 
pelled to labor for him, shot swiftly downward, 
with closed wings, after the falling object. He 
would certainly have caught it ere it touched the 
ground had not Gale, in his excitement, suddenly 
sprung to his feet with waving arms and a loud cry. 
As the startled eagle swerved to one side, the object 
of its pursuit lodged in a low bush not ten feet from 
where the lad stood. Hastening to the spot to dis- 
cover the cause of all this fuss and noise, Gale was 
overjoyed to find a full-grown rabbit as fat as butter, 
and so recently killed as to be still warm. 

“ Thank you very much, Mr. Eagle,” he said mock- 
ingly, as he secured this prize. “ Nothing could 
have suited me better just now, and I ’ll take as 
many more as you choose to bring along at the same 
price.” This was a very superfluous bit of courtesy, 
however, as the eagle was already far beyond hear- 
ing, and almost out of sight. 

u Now I have something worth cooking,” reflected 
the food-finder, as, gathering up an armful of pota- 
toes, bananas, and rabbit, he started back toward his 
camp-fire. Suddenly the thought occurred to him : 


FEATHERED HUNTERS FETCH A DINNER. 1 59 

“ Suppose Aleck should waken and find himself 
alone ? what would he think had happened ? and 
what would he do ? He might go crazy, or leap into 
the sea in his despair, or do something else equally 
terrible to contemplate.” Gale became so terror- 
stricken at the dreadful pictures thus painted by his 
imagination, that, dropping his burdens, he started 
on a run toward the place where he supposed his 
friend to be, and which was about a quarter of a 
mile from the field. 

A few minutes later Gale reached the spot where 
he had left the sole companion of his captivity. He 
could not be mistaken in it, for there was the now 
familiar opening in the rock to which they had given 
the name of “ blow-hole.” There, too, lay the rope- 
like vine by means of which he had drawn Aleck 
from the cavern, but beyond this there was no trace 
of the lad’s presence. He had disappeared, so far 
as Gale could see, as completely as though he had 
never been on the island. As he realized this, the 
poor fellow stood like one bereft of motion through 
fright and bewilderment, not knowing which way to 
turn or to look. 


CHAPTER XXL 


GALE LOSES ALECK AND ALECK LOSES GALE. 

W HEN, under Gale’s energetic ministrations, 
Aleck Penrose recovered from the brief un- 
consciousness caused by his rough contact with the 
submarine rocks, he at once recognized the friend 
who was so anxiously bending over him. At the 
same time he realized that a trick had been used to 
entice him from the cavern, and he became instantly 
filled with such an unreasoning resentment that he 
determined, if possible, to pay Gale back in his own 
coin. He therefore closed his eyes again, without 
having given a sign of recognition, and pretended to 
fall asleep. At the same time his anger so stimu- 
lated his faculties that his recovery was much more 
rapid than it otherwise could have been. He fur- 
tively watched Gale’s movements, and was almost 
moved by his gentle care and half-uttered expres- 
sions of regret and anxiety, to forgive him then and 


GALE LOSES ALECK AND ALECK LOSES GALE . l6l 

there. His resentment proved too strong, however, 
and he finally allowed his comrade to depart with- 
out a suspicion that his condition was other than 
what it seemed. 

As soon as Gale disappeared, Aleck sat up, and, 
though still feeling very weak and shaky, he man- 
aged to dress himself. Then he followed slowly in 
the direction taken by his comrade. First he made 
his way to a place on the edge of the lake that was 
hidden from the camp, to which Gale had gone, and 
there quenched the distressing thirst from which he 
was suffering. He also bathed his bruised face. 
Then, feeling immensely refreshed and strengthened, 
he stole to the vicinity of the camp, where Gale 
was just then busy with his fire. When the latter 
visited the field, Aleck followed him, witnessed the 
episode of the eagle and hawk, and finally knew by 
the young mate’s action in dropping his store of 
provisions and starting in the direction of the cavern 
that he had gone to look for him. 

Now was the moment of Aleck’s triumph. “ He 
deserves a good scare,” he said to himself. “ The 
idea of playing such a mean trick on me ! If he will 
only feel half as bad now as I did then, I shall be 

XI 


1 62 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


satisfied.” Then going to Gale’s store of provisions 
the boy ate several bananas, and carried the rest of 
the things to camp. Here he buried the sweet 
potatoes beneath a bed of coals to bake, hung the 
rabbit over a low limb, filled the gourds and turtle- 
shell with water, and thrust several copperbolts into 
the fire. Then he began to wonder why Gale did 
not return ; and, directly, his wonder changed to 
uneasiness. What if his friend should have come to 
some grief in searching for him? He might have 
fallen on the slippery rocks and broken a bone or 
sprained an ankle. A snake might have bitten him, 
or any one of a score of things might have hap- 
pened. Oh ! why had he done so stupid a thing as to 
deceive one to whom he owed so much ? Why had 
he allowed him to go off on so fruitless a quest ? Still, 
Gale had played him a mean trick and deserved to 
suffer a little in return. With this thought Aleck’s 
resentment was again fanned into a feeble flame. 

The punishment must not be carried too far, 
though, and he was willing to meet the culprit half 
way. Thus thinking, Aleck started toward the 
place where Gale had left him. He reached it with- 
out having met his comrade, nor could he now find a 


GALE LOSES ALECK AND ALECK LOSES GALE. 163 

trace of him. By this time the boy was thoroughly 
anxious, and he began to shout with a hope that 
the other might be somewhere within hearing. As 
he shouted he continued to walk through the forest, 
toward the upper end of the island, thinking that 
Gale must have gone in that direction. 

This was precisely what the young mate had 
done, and at that moment, having completed the cir- 
cuit of its upper half and come again to the field, he 
was making his way across it, filled with anxious 
misery. Suddenly he halted and gazed about him 
with an expression of perplexity mingled with fear. 
Here was the very place where he had left his store 
of provisions, but now they were gone. It certainly 
was the place, though. Yes, there was where he 
had dug the potatoes, and there was the tree from 
which he had cut the bananas. “ Hello ! what is 
this ? A banana skin freshly torn off, as I ’m a sin- 
ner ! And there is another ! Some one has been 
here since I left, and it must have been Aleck, for I 
am almost certain there is n’t another human being 
on the island. The young villain ! Could he have 
been shamming all that time? I don’t believe it. 
He would n’t serve me so mean a trick. If he was, 


164 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


though ! Well, I don’t know what I would do, but 
I would have good cause to feel provoked, that is 
certain.” 

While thus thinking, Gale left the field and has- 
tened toward camp, where he fully expected to find 
his missing friend. To his intense disappointment 
the camp was as deserted as when he left it, nor 
could he see anything of him whom he so fully ex- 
pected to find there. He found a trace of his recent 
presence, though, for here was his rabbit, and it 
certainly could not have come there of its own ac- 
cord. The water vessels were full, too, and the bolts 
had been thrust into the fire. 

“ So, ho, Mr. Aleck ! you have been here, have 
you ? after leading me a nice wild-goose chase over 
the island, too, and making me feel as though I were 
a murderer. And now I suppose you are hiding t 
somewhere in the bushes, where you can see me and r 
enjoy my misery. Well, it ’s a mean trick, after all 
I have done for you ; but you ’d better believe there 
won’t be any visible misery for you to enjoy, and 
you may remain in hiding until you are ready to I 
come out, for all I care. It is certain that I sha’n’t , 
waste any more time in hunting for you. 




GALE LOSES ALECK AND ALECK LOSES GALE. 165 

“ That is apt to be the way with friendships. If 
you expect too much from them you get left ; and 
the more you do for your friend the more you can 
do. I should n’t be one bit surprised if Caesar had 
run across a good chance to leave the island, and 
had taken advantage of it. It would be the proper 
payment, according to the rule of the world, for my 
friendliness toward him. He could easily have 
taken one of those Indian canoes and sneaked off. 
I know I could if I had been in his place. Well, I 
have had my lesson, and hereafter I am going to 
look out for myself first, last, and always. To begin 
with, I am going to cook this rabbit, and if Master 
Aleck does n’t choose to come in and explain his un- 
friendly actions by the time it is ready he won’t get 
any of it, that ’s all.” 


CHAPTER XXII. 


a proof of c^esar’s death. 

ILLED with bitterness toward those who he 



J- considered had behaved so shabbily toward 
him, Gale Ellicot began to skin and prepare for din- 
ner the unfortunate rabbit, which, while searching 
for its own dinner on the distant mainland, had 
been chased by some one of its many four-footed 
enemies, snapped up by the hawk, stolen by the 
eagle, captured by Gale, and brought to camp by 
Aleck Penrose. Now it seemed as though it were 
to be served and eaten with the bitter sauce of 
resentment. 

Gale decided to stew it ; and, for this purpose, he 
scooped a shallow hole in the sand as close as pos- 
sible to the fire, and filled it with glowing coals. 
After a while he pushed these out, and carefully set 
his only stewpan, the turtle-shell, in their place. 
Two red-hot bolts, lifted from the fire by means of a 


166 


A PROOF OF CAESAR' S DEATH. 1 67 

forked stick, and gently deposited in the water with 
which the shell was half filled, caused it to boil 
almost instantly. The rabbit, cut into small pieces, 
Was then dropped in, a big palmetto leaf served as 
a cover, a lot of dampened grass w T as piled above 
this, and the stew was left to take care of itself. 

“ It won’t be good without salt,” reflected Gale, 
“ so I guess I ’ll go and hunt for some. My absence 
will give Aleck a chance to come out of his hiding- 
place, too, and when I get back we ’ll hear what he 
has to say for himself.” 

Thus thinking, Gale walked toward the place 
where they had first landed on the island, and where 
he hoped the recent storm would have left a thin 
deposit of salt on the rocks. All of a sudden, as he 
approached the shore, he was startled by a cry of, 
“ Gale ! Gale ! Oh, he is dead ! He is dead ! ” 

The cry was accompanied by a tremendous splash- 
ing in the water, and as the one whose name was 
thus thrillingly uttered sprang into the open, he was 
confronted by a spectacle at once strange and ter- 
rible. On a jutting point of rock stood Aleck 
Penrose with blanched and horrified face, gazing into 
the water a few yards from him. It was in the 


68 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


wildest commotion, and lashed into a foam that was 
crimsoned with blood. A dozen great sharks were 
snapping and tearing like a pack of wolves at a 
human body. As Gale gazed in consternation at 
the awful sight, a gaunt black arm was uplifted for 
an instant above the surface. The next moment it 
was dragged down, and the conclusion of the horrid 
feast was hidden deep beneath the sparkling eddies 
of an inflowing tide. 

Now Gale’s whole attention was concentrated on 
Aleck, who still stood on the point of rocks, uttering 
inarticulate moanings, but with his face covered by 
his hands. 

“ Don’t take on so, old fellow. It ’s all over now,” 
said Gale, gently, as he stepped unnoticed close to 
the grief -stricken boy. 

At the sound of Gale’s voice Aleck uttered a cry 
of terror, and started so, that he would have fallen 
into the sea, had not his comrade seized him by the 
arm. 

“ Why, what is the matter, man ? ” cried Gale, 
genuinely alarmed by the other’s manner. “ You are 
staring at me as though you thought I was a 
ghost.” 



GALE ! GALE ! OH, HE IS DEAD ! HE IS DEAD !” 



A PROOF OF CMSAR'S DEATH. 1 69 

“ Oh, Gale ! Is it you, really alive and well, 
when I thought I had just seen you dragged to a 
certain death ? It can’t be ! It is too good to be 
true. 

“ Why can’t it be ? What made you think it was 
I that the sharks had got ? ” 

“ It certainly was your shirt, and when I first saw 
you you were lying down at the edge of the water, 
and seemed to be moving toward it. Just as I 
called out you suddenly plunged iu, and were in- 
stantly surrounded by sharks. Oh ! it was too 
awful ! too terrible ! ” and the boy shuddered as he 
recalled the scene. 

“ My shirt, do you say ? ” exclaimed Gale, ignor- 
ing the rest of Aleck’s bewildering statement regard- 
ing himself. “ My shirt ! and the arm that I saw 
w r as a black one. Oh, Aleck ! it must have been 
Caesar. Don’t you remember that he put on my 
shirt, by mistake, in the cavern, and carried it away 
when he left us? What was he doing? Was he 
alive when you first saw him ? ” 

“ I don’t know,” replied Aleck, still gazing at his 
companion in a bewildered fashion, as though find- 
ing it difficult to realize that it was indeed he. “ I 


170 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


could not see liis head nor his feet. They seemed 
to be hanging over the edge of the rock, but he was 
moving in a jerky sort of way, and then all of a sud- 
den he plunged into the water. Do you really think 
it was Caesar ? ” 

“ I don’t see who else it could have been. The 
body was not that of a white man, for I saw a black 
arm very plainly, and you say that you are certain 
he wore my shirt ? ” 

“ Yes, I am sure of that.” 

“ I don’t believe he was alive, though,” continued 
Gale. “ He must have been drowned and his body 
washed up on this rock during the storm. Here it 
must have remained until the tide again rose high 
enough to enable the sharks to get hold of it, and 
then they dragged it in. Poor fellow ! Poor fellow ! 
He has indeed given his life for me, or rather for us, 
as he said he would if the chance offered ; and yet, 
only a few minutes ago, I was accusing him of hav- 
ing deserted us. That shows what a cruel thing it 
is to form a judgment without knowing all the facts 
in the case. Poor Caesar ! Poor, brave fellow ! I 
have not the slightest doubt that he was as faithful 
to us in death as he proved himself in life. But 


A PROOF OF CsFSAR’S DEATH. iyi 

where have you been all this time, old man ? and 
how did you manage to get here ? The last I saw 
of you you were lying fast asleep near the blow- 
hole.” 

“ I have been hunting for you,” replied the boy, 
with a slightly conscious expression. “ When I 
found myself alone, I went to the camp, and to the 
field, and back to camp, and back to where I came 
from, and then started to walk around the island, 
thinking you must be somewhere on the shore. I 
shouted till I was so hoarse I could n’t make myself 
heard ten feet. When I got here I was just going 
to turn up the creek toward camp, when I saw you, 
as I supposed, lying on the rocks. But where have 
you been ? ” 

“ I,” replied Gale, “ have been searching for you, 
and can’t understand at all how we managed to miss 
each other so completely. Did n’t you bring the 
rabbit and other things in from the field ? ” 

“ Yes, and put the sweet potatoes into the ashes 
to bake,” answered Aleck, who would not, for the 
world, that Gale should even guess at the feeling of 
resentment that animated him during the perform- 
ance of that service. 


172 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


“ And I,” said Gale, equally ashamed of his own 
recent bitter thoughts, “ have just put that same 
rabbit on to stew, expecting that you would turn 
up before it was ready, as you have. So now let us 
go and eat the dinner for which we have waited 
so long, and worked so hard. Poor old Caesar,” he 
added, with a parting glance at the shining waters, 
“ if there was anything in this world we could do 
for you, we would do it with all our might ; but as 
there is n’t, we must do the best we can for our- 
selves.” 

So the comrades, with their friendship cemented 
more firmly than ever by their recent anxieties and 
common sorrow, returned to their dismantled camp. 
Here, after the hearty meal of which they stood 
so greatly in need, they lay down for the long un- 
disturbed sleep that was equally necessary before 
they could even consider any plans for the future. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 

HEN Caesar left the cavern for an outside 



scout, his prime object was to obtain food, 


and he had no idea of going farther than the field 
for that purpose. As he emerged from the water, 
he drew himself, very cautiously, up on the rocks, 
and looked about him. Nothing of an alarming 
nature was in sight, unless, indeed, it was the sky 
which clearly betokened that a storm, and a terrible 
one at that, was about to burst over the island. 
The afternoon was not so far advanced as he had 
imagined from the gloom of the cavern, but the 
western heavens were shrouded by an ominous 
blackness that was rapidly advancing, and behind 
which the sun was already hidden. 

Stooping and moving warily from cover to cover, 
the negro finally reached the field. A quick but 
comprehensive survey failing to disclose any cause 
for alarm, he entered it, and made toward a bunch 


173 


74 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


of bananas that hung, yellow and tempting, but a 
few yards from the wall. Reaching this, he was in 
the act of cutting it when a savage yell rang in his 
ears, his knife was struck from his grasp, and he w r as 
hurled to the ground. 

The Indians having fruitlessly scoured every part 
of the island in an effort to discover the trespassers 
on their domain, had concealed themselves at various 
points, and waited patiently for the appearance of 
the unknown invaders. Rendered uneasy and made 
anxious to depart by the approaching storm, most of 
them had gone to their canoes ere Caesar left the 
cavern. The only two left behind were about to do 
likewise, when one of them discovered him just as 
he was entering the field. Gliding toward the 
unsuspecting negro with the silence of a shadow, the 
Indian sprang upon his victim, and bore him to the 
earth ere his presence was known. 

Although thus taken at a disadvantage, and 
knocked nearly breathless by the sudden onset, 
Caesar did not yield without a struggle. In this his 
great strength must ultimately have given him the 
victory, had not a second Indian, attracted by the 
yell of the first, arrived upon the scene just as the 


CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 


1/5 


negro had gained the upper hand, and was choking 
the breath from his adversary. The new-comer was 
armed with a gun, and by a blow from this he laid 
Caesar senseless on the ground. When, a few seconds 
later, he recovered and staggered to his feet, he 
found his wrists tied together behind him, a rope 
about his neck, and the shirt stripped from his back, 
to replace that of the first Indian, whose own had 
been torn to shreds during the brief struggle. 

“ Good,” grunted the second Indian in English, as 
Caesar stood up. “ Now other man, where him ? 
Tell me, quick. ’Spose not tell, me shoot. Sabe ? ” 

With this the Indian cocked his gun and raised 
its muzzle to a level with the negro’s eyes. Into its 
black depths the latter gazed unflinchingly ; but he 
answered never a word. Even at the command of 
Death itself he would not betray a descendant of 
Sir Richard Allanson. 

“ You no sabe Englis’ ?” demanded the Indian. 

“ He talks only Spanish,” said the other Indian in 
his own tongue. “We must take him to Mateo, 
who speaks his language, and will make him under- 
stand.” Then to the prisoner he cried “ Anda ! ” at 
the same time giving the rope about his neck a jerk. 


76 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Thus led by one Indian, and followed by another 
holding a loaded gun in readiness to shoot at the 
first sign of an attempt at escape, Caesar was com- 
pelled to walk to where the canoes had made a land- 
ing. Here, to their dismay, the Indians found but 
one remaining. Their comrades, fearful of the 
gathering storm, and anxious to gain a safe lee ere 
it should burst, had started off without them, and 
were now but specks in the distance. 

After a moment’s consultation, Caesar’s captors de- 
cided to make the attempt to overtake their friends. 
The negro was suddenly tripped up, so that he fell 
heavily to the ground, and in this ignominious posi- 
tion, with the gun still pointing at his head, was 
forced to have his ankles tightly bound with the 
rope taken from about his neck for this purpose. 
Being thus rendered utterly helpless, he was bundled 
into the canoe with as scant ceremony as though he 
had been a log of wood, and the craft was shoved 
from shore. 

Lying in the bottom of the canoe, Caesar could see 
nothing save the black fall of storm clouds over- 
head, and the Indian who owned the gun, standing 
in the stern urging the light craft forward with pow- 


CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 


77 


erful strokes of a long-handled paddle. The other 
Indian stood in the bow working with equal energy. 
With each stroke they cast anxious glances toward 
the windward horizon, which was now lighted with 
an unearthly glow, to note the entrance of the storm. 
The black waters were spread like oil about them, 
while the air was oppressively motionless and devoid 
of life. 

While Caesar pondered as to his own fate, and 
what would become of those whom he had left in 
the cavern, the air became filled with an uncanny 
moaning, that speedily deepened to a hoarse-throated 
roar. The dread powers of the storm-fiend were 
about to be loosed, and it behooved all who might, 
to avoid the onset. The canoe was midway of a 
wide space of open water, beyond which lay shelter 
and safety. An attempt to regain the island would 
be as perilous as to hold to the present course ; and 
bending low, that their bodies might offer the less 
resistance to the blast, the dusky paddlers wielded 
their springing blades with fiercer energy and a 
grim determination. The canoe sprang forward like 
a frightened animal, but it could not escape. W r ith 
an exulting scream the combined powers of wind 


12 


78 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


and sea leaped upon it, and in a moment it was the 
centre of a seething chaos. 

As the light craft was whirled around, the Indian 
in the bow flung his w~hole w r eight upon his paddle, 
in a futile effort to hold the canoe to its course. As 
he did so, the tough blade snapped. Instantly he 
who had wielded it lost his balance and jfliinged 
overboard. As he rose to the surface, his companion, 
leaning far over the side, attempted to clutch him 
and effect a rescue. To Caesar, who believed that he 
was being borne to a certain death by torture, the 
opportunity thus afforded to rid himself of both his 
enemies by a single blow 7 seemed too favorable to be 
neglected. With a mighty effort he managed, in 
spite of his bonds, to launch himself forward and 
deliver a kick with both his fettered feet, that lifted 
the second Indian from the canoe as though he were 
projected from a catapult. Ere he rose to the 
surface, the canoe had been swept beyond his reach. 
A moment later it disappeared in the spray-thickened 
gloom. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


A NIGHT AT SEA ON AN OVERTURNED CANOE. 



HIRLING and tossing, but ever hurried 


forward by the furious gale, the Indian 


canoe, with its solitary and helplessly bound occu- 
pant, was driven out to sea. With each foot of 
progress the waves that sought to engulf it became 
larger and more threatening. Lying at full length 
in the bottom of the menaced craft, the negro was 
stolidly resigned to the fate that he believed awaited 
him. He could do nothing to help himself, and had 
no idea of the direction in which his craft was being 
driven. At any instant, he knew, it might be dashed 
in splinters on the coral heads of some outlying reef, 
or overturned by the great seas that beat at it so 
savagely. In either case the result would be the 
same, so fai* as he was concerned, for he was fettered 
beyond a possibility of saving himself. 

Every now and theu an eager wave lapped over ? 


l80 THE CORAL SHIP. 

gunwale, as though impatient for the prey awaiting 
it, and thus water gradually accumulated in the 
bottom of the canoe, until Caesar lay in quite a pool. 
At first he did not notice this. Then it offended him 
as being a needless addition to his misery, and he 
reviled it with strange Spanish oaths. Suddenly, 
and with an amazing facility, his curses were 
changed to blessings. Under the relaxing influence 
of a thorough soaking, the buckskin thong confining 
his wrists was stretching, and he could move his 
hands. Now he felt eagerly for the deepest water, 
and sought to have it cover his wrists, while a germ 
of hope sprang into his breast. He knew himself to 
be utterly helpless as he was ; but, if he could only 
free his hands, how many things would become 
possible. 

So the captive soaked his bonds in the blessed 
water, that, under guise of an enemy, was proving 
so good a friend, and tugged at them regardless of 
the pain to his swollen wrists, until at length one 
hand was wrenched free. With this all his courage 
returned, in spite of the hurricane that shrieked 
about him with the voices of ten thousand demons, 
the leaping seas, and the darkness in which the wild 


A NIGHT A T SEA ON AN OVERTURNED CANOE. 1 8 1 


scene was now enshrouded, this descendant of Black 
Caesar faced the situation with all the undaunted 
spirit of his long-ago ancestor. As soon as his 
numbed fingers could be made to perform their 
task, he untied the rope that bound his ankles, and 
gratefully stretched his cramped limbs. When their 
circulation was somewhat restored, he began feeling 
about in the canoe for r a paddle with which to head 
his craft into the wind, or for a bit of old canvas and 
a pole with which to make a sea-anchor, or drag, for 
the same purpose. His search was in vain, its only 
rewards being a rifle and a grain, or fish-spear. 
The paddles had disappeared with their owners, and, 
if there had ever been a sail, it must have blown 
away. 

In all his movements Csesar was obliged to exer- 
cise the utmost care to avoid capsizing his wildly 
tossing craft. As it drifted broadside to the seas, 
the only wonder was that it had not capsized long 
before. Still, the negro felt confident that, with the 
free use of all his limbs, he could keep her right side 
up for some hours longer at least. 

Failing to find anything with which to navigate 
his little ship, he next began to search for something 


I 82 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


in the shape of provisions, or a vessel that might 
contain fresh water, for he was suffering greatly 
from both hunger and thirst. In one extreme end 
of the canoe his groping hand touched a bottle that 
rolled away. Caesar strove to regain it by a quick 
movement, and the next instant was struggling in 
the sea beneath the capsized canoe. 

As he swam from under it, a great wave dashed 
him against its side with a bruising and almost 
stunning violence. Still, the canoe formed his sole 
reliance; for to leave it meant certain death, even to 
a stout swimmer like himself, and again he cautiously 
approached its black bulk. He was hampered in 
his swimming by the rope that was still attached to 
one of his ankles, and he bitterly regretted the 
neglect that had allowed it to remain there. This 
time a sea, lifting him above the canoe, dropped him 
squarely across it, and he clung to the rounded sur- 
face as best he might with both arms and legs. For 
a few minutes he succeeded in maintaining his posi- 
tion in spite of the breaking seas, and then a giant 
wave brushed him from the slippery resting-place, 
as though he had been a fly. The struggle to regain 
it was harder this time than before, and the strong 


A NIGHT A T SEA ON AN OVERTURNED CANOE. 1 83 

swimmer realized that another such experience must 
be his last. Again was he hampered by the dragging 
rope, and when he finally found himself once more 
astride the overturned canoe, his first act was to 
disengage it. He was about to allow it to slip over- 
board, as being of no use to him in his present posi- 
tion, when, like a flash, the thought came to him 
that in it lay his salvation. In less than a minute a 
bight of the rope had been slipped over one end of 
the canoe, and dragged aft to about ’mid-ship. Then 
Caesar, lying at full length, passed the ends over his 
body, drew them taut, and knotted them fast. Now 
the seas might beat upon him as much as they 
pleased ; but, so long as the rope held, they could 
not separate him from the canoe to which he was 
securely lashed. 

Thus, through the long hours of that terrible night 
of storm and blackness poor Caesar drifted at the 
mercy of wind and waves. His head was as often 
under water as above it, he was chilled almost to 
numbness, and every inch of his body was bruised 
by the incessant buffetings of the pitiless seas. 

It was a memorable night for all three of our cast- 
aways, and it is an open question as to which of 


1 84 THE CORAL SHIP. 

them suffered the most ere its blackness was dis- 
pelled by the longed-for daylight : Caesar, lashed to 
his bit of wave-tossed wood, or the two lads whom 
he had left behind amid the unseen terrors of the 
submarine cavern. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


NEGRO, CANOE, SHARK, AND TURTLE- 


ONG-INGrLY as Caesar watched for daylight, 



' eagerly lifting his head, and seeking to de- 
tect its faintest ray whenever he was tossed aloft 
on the crest of a sea, he was asleep when it came. 
The gale broke soon after midnight ; and, in the 
succeeding calm, the waves so quickly subsided that 
they soon ceased to break over him. Thus relieved 
from immediate danger, the negro fell into a sleep of 
utter exhaustion. From this he was rudely awakened, 
some hours later, by a severe blow on one of his feet 
that had slipped into the water. 

Lifting his head, Caesar gazed anxiously about 
him. The sun had just risen, the overturned canoe 
was rising and falling gently on the regular swells 
of unruffled water, and a snow-white pelican was 
fishing for its breakfast near at hand. Beyond this 
nothing was to be seen. There was no land in sight, 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


1 86 

no vessel, no sign of life in all the vast expanse of 
sea and sky. Had it not been for the pain in his 
foot, that remained as evidence of the recent blow, 
Caesar would have concluded that he had dreamed 
of being struck. The aching member trailed just on 
the surface of the water, and as its owner gazed 
inquiringly at it, a dark object shot up from the dim 
depths directly beneath it. 

Quickly as Caesar drew up his foot, it was again 
grazed by the open jaws of the shark that had 
coveted it for his breakfast. With a loud cry and 
a violent splashing, Caesar caused the cowardly 
monster to beat a hurried retreat, and was greatly 
relieved to find that nothing more dangerous than a 
shark was striving to eat him. He held a profound 
contempt for these scavengers of the sea, and had 
stabbed many a one to death in fair fight. He knew 
that they only attacked human beings when the 
latter were dead, or so motionless as to appear so, 
and that a swimmer, with life enough in him to keep 
up a splashing, was safe from the savage cowards, 
no matter how large or how numerous they were. 
Still, the presence of this shark, which Caesar had 
seen was a hammer-head of great size, filled him 


NEGRO , CANOE, SNARE, AND TURTLE . 187 

with uneasiness. The overturned canoe floated so 
low that it was impossible to keep all portions of his 
body out of the water at once, and it would be 
equally impossible to maintain a constant splashing. 
He knew the wolf-like tenacity with which a shark 
will linger in the vicinity of any possible prey, after 
once making up its mind to obtain it, and he 
realized that, unless he could make some radical 
change in his position, he must, sooner or later, fall 
a victim to those terrible jaws. What could he do ? 
Would it be possible to turn the canoe over and bail 
it out ? He doubted it ; but, as no other plan 
offered, that one must be tried. 

It took him a long time to unfasten the rope by 
which he was lashed to the canoe, and, while he was 
thus engaged, he saw his watchful enemy repeatedly 
circle around him, though always at a respectful 
distance. 

“If me hab harpoon, me fix you, you ole debbil,” 
muttered the negro. As he had none he was forced 
to content himself with an occasional shake of his 
fist and volleys of abusive language. When he 
finally disengaged himself from the lashing, and had 
again secured it about the body of the canoe, he 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


1 88 

slipped into the water. Then, aided by the useful 
rope which afforded him a hold, he finally suc- 
ceeded, after a long struggle, in righting the craft 
so that it once more floated on an even keel. Of 
course it was filled with water so that its gunwales 
were on a level with the surrounding surface. To 
hold on with one hand and scoop this water out 
with the other, at the same time keeping a watchful 
eye on the shark, was so tedious and laborious an 
undertaking that it was a full hour before the gun- 
wales showed an inch above the surface. Had the 
sea been even rippled by a breeze the task would 
have been impossible. 

At the end of another hour, when the first puffs 
of the regular northeast trade-wind were just be- 
ginning to make themselves felt, the canoe was so 
far lightened that it would support the swimmer’s 
entire weight, and still show a trifle of free board. 
Once inside of it he could scoop out the water by 
double handfuls, and by noon the lonely navigator 
had the satisfaction of finding himself once more 
afloat in a comparatively dry craft. At the same 
time he was suffering greatly from thirst, hunger, 
and exhaustion. The sun’s vertical rays beat down 


NEGRO , CANOE , SHARK, AND TURTLE. 1 89 

on him with a fervent heat, from which there was 
no shadow of escape. By good luck he caught a 
flying-fish in his hands. It was one of a dozen or 
more that, pursued by a fierce bronito, darted from 
the water and skimmed through the air a few feet 
above the surface. They did not flutter their wings 
as birds do, nor did they alter their course from the 
straight line which carried them directly over the 
canoe. Although the one captured by Caesar was 
full-grown, and though he had eaten every morsel 
of it within three minutes, there was so very little 
of it that it served only to whet his appetite. 
When, therefore, an hour or so later, he caught 
sight of a monster sea-turtle asleep on the water 
but a short distance ahead of him, he determined to 
make an effort for its capture. He was quite hope- 
ful of succeeding in this, as he drifted closer, and 
saw by the large barnacles attached to the animal’s 
shell that it was of great age, and presumably sub- 
ject to an infirmity of aged turtles that prevents 
them from sinking beneath the surface of the water. 

The sole object of which Caesar was now possessed 
was the rope by which his legs had been bound, and 
which had already proved so useful to him. Mak- 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


I90 

ing a noose in one end of this, and fastening the 
other to the bow of the canoe, he crouched low, and, 
with hungry eyes fixed on his anticipated prey, 
awaited, with intense eagerness, the moment when 
he should drift within reach of the unconscious 
turtle. 

As the canoe, moved by a light breeze, ranged 
abreast of the huge creature, it was still some six 
feet distant. In another minute it would be past, 
and drifting away. Caesar could not bear to lose 
the opportunity, and he did not. With the free end 
of the rope in one band, he leaped from the canoe, 
and landed squarely on the turtle’s back. Ere the 
terrified beast could comprehend the nature of this 
bewildering form of attack, tbe noose had been 
slipped over one of its after-flippers and drawn taut. 

Now ensued a struggle, that, in spite of its deadly 
earnestness, would have proved comical enough to 
a spectator. Lying flat on the back of his captive, 
which was so much larger than he thought that it 
must have weighed nearly, if not quite, five hundred 
pounds, Caesar attempted to turn its head in tbe 
direction of the canoe. At the same time tbe turtle, 
displaying immense strength and with so vigorous 



HE LEAPED FROM THE CANOE AND LANDED SQUARELY ON THE TURTLE’S BACK. 






































. 



NEGRO , CANOE, SHARK, AND TURTLE. 191 

a movement of its powerful flippers that the water 
about it fairly boiled, was evidently determined to 
go in exactly the opposite direction. 

Finally, realizing that, with all his advantage of 
position, he could accomplish nothing where he was, 
Caesar decided to regain the canoe, which he sup- 
posed was towing close behind him. To his horror, 
as he glanced in that direction, he discovered it to 
be nearly out of sight in the distance — with the 
monster turtle’s first furious struggles, the rope 
attaching it to the canoe had parted as though it 
were a bit of twine, though of course unnoticed by 
Caesar, whose entire attention was concentrated upon 
the subjugation of his refractory captive. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


CJESAR AS A MERMAID. 

LTHOUGH the negro instantly recognized the 



jljL desperate nature of his situation, its absurdity 
was also too apparent to be overlooked. 

“ Caesar cotch plenty turkle ; but dis de fustes 
time ebber a turkle cotch him, an’ run away wif him 
too,” he exclaimed to himself, as he ruefully watched 
his canoe vanish in the distance. “ Bimeby ole man 
shark cornin’ erlong, an’ him get me dish yer time 
shuah ! ” 

It did seem more than likely that this prophecy 
would prove true ; for, notwithstanding the turtle’s 
enormous size, Caesar’s weight was sufficient to sink 
it so low in the water that 'its back was submerged, 
and only the upper half of the negro’s body appeared 
above the surface. This carrying of weight did not, 
however, appear to materially retard the animal’s 
progress, and it continued to swim rapidly in the 


CALS A R AS A MERMAID. 


193 


direction it had chosen from the first, which hap- 
pened to be easterly. How long he would be able 
to cling to his precarious seat, Caesar could not 
guess ; but he fully realized that if nightfall found 
him still in that position, his chances for looking upon 
another sunrise would be very slim. He, there- 
fore, strained his eyes in every direction, but espe- 
cially that in which he was borne, for the welcome 
glimpse of a sail or the smoke of a steamer. 

About this time a land company was seeking to 
enhance the value of a sixty-mile strip of sea-beach, 
that they owned on the eastern coast of Florida, by 
planting it with cocoa-nuts, to the growth of which 
that climate is well adapted. They had already 
planted many thousands of these great nuts among 
the sand dunes, and would have had enough on 
hand to complete their undertaking, had not a quan- 
tity of them, carelessly left too close to the water’s 
edge, been swept away by the recent hurricane. 
The moment this loss was discovered, the planters 
ordered their swift little schooner Shark, which had 
already made the voyage many times, to proceed 
once more to Baracoa, on the eastern end of the 
island of Cuba, for a new supply of nuts. Starting 


i 9 4 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


at once, in obedience to this order, and fanned along 
by the northeast trade, that began to blow on the 
upper coast as soon as the storm was past, th e Shark 
quickly lost sight of the low-lying land, and would 
evidently cover a hundred miles of water before 
nightfall. 

About the middle of the afternoon the man at 
the wheel roused the captain, who was dozing in a 
hammock on the shady side of the after deck-house, 
with the announcement that there was something 
curious in sight. 

“ Where away ? ” demanded the captain, yawning 
sleepily. 

“ Off the lee bow, sir ; but working dead to wind- 
ward. At times it looks to be a whale ; and then 
at times it does n’t.” 

It took the captain a full minute to make out the 
moving black dot, to which the helmsman directed 
his gaze. The moment he brought it within the 
focus of his powerful glass, all his inertness vanished, 
and he became instantly wide-awake, not to say 
greatly excited. 

“ Mr. Griggs ! ” he shouted to the mate, who was 
busy about something in the forward part of the 


CAlSAR ASA MERMAID. 


195 


schooner. “ Step here a moment, sir, and as quickly 
as you can, please.” 

When the mate obeyed this summons, looking 
aloft and all about him as he walked aft, to see 
what had gone wrong, the captain thrust the glass 
into his hand, and, pointing out the strange object, 
bade him to examine it closely. 

As he gazed the mate’s weather-beaten face grew 
visibly pale, and when he, at length, lowered the 
glass from his eyes, he was evidently badly rattled. 

“ Well, sir ! ” asked the captain, impatiently, 
u what do you make it ? ” 

u I think it must be the devil, sir ; for in all my 
sea-going I never seen nothing like it afore. It ’s 
black, and it looks human, in a way. It ’s moving 
through the water too, at a great rate ; but it is n’t 
swimming, only just waving its arms. It ’s got 
horns, that I ’ll swear to, and I ’m afeard, sir, that 
it ’s after us.” 

“ I wonder if there can be any truth in the yarns 
about mermaids, and if this is one of them ? ” re- 
marked the captain, reflectively. 

u Sartain there is, sir ! Sartain ! ” exclaimed the 
.mate, brightening at this simple, and to him, per- 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


fectly plausible explanation of the phenomenon. 
“ Though I never set my own eyes on one of the 
critters, I ’ve seen a plenty as has. These is the 
very waters they mostly uses in, too. Yes, sir, it ’s 
sure to be a mermaid, and we must kill it, or it ’ll 
have every blessed one of us afore the v’y’ge is 
ended. I ’ll get the gun, and try a shot for luck.” 

“ Hold hard ! ” commanded the captain, “ If its 
the devil, shooting won’t harm it ; while if it ’s a 
human being, you ’d be committing murder. If it ’s a 
mermaid, I ’m going to try and capture it. Why, man, 
it would make our everlasting fortune in a museum.” 

“ Our everlasting misfortin’, more like,” growled 
the mate. 

“ Keep her away,” added the captain, turning to the 
man at the wheel, “ and run alongside of that thing, 
while I make a bowline ready to heave over its head.” 

“ Don’t ye, Cap’n ! Don’t ye resk it,” expostulated 
the mate. 

“ That will do, sir ! ” answered the captain, shortly. 
He had no trace of superstition in his make-up, 
and was determined to investigate the approaching 
phenomenon in the most thorough manner. 

By this time the whole crew were aroused to the 


C&SAR AS A MERMAID. 


19 7 


fact of something unusual taking place, and were 
strung along the lee rail, watching, with conflicting 
emotions, in which fear and curiosity were equally 
blended, the strangest sight any of them had ever 
witnessed at sea. 

As the captain took up his position by the cat- 
head, with a running bowline in his hand, while the 
mate still stood near the wheel, the strange object 
drew so close that all hands saw it to be a human 
being, at least from the waist up. They agreed that 
it was black ; but whether it was a man or a woman 
was still uncertain, though most of the spectators 
thought the latter. They could even hear its voice 
uttering incoherent and mysterious cries. 

“ Steady !” cried the captain, “don’t run it down. 
Just steer alongside.” As he spoke he flung his 
bowline deftly over the creature’s head. 

At that moment the mate, with the cowardice of 
a superstitious nature, seized the wheel from the 
helmsman, and jammed the tiller over to port. The 
schooner, with ready obedience, swung to starboard, 
and, in another instant, amid distracting cries from 
all the spectators, the mysterious object had been 
squarely run down, and was lost to sight. 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


A minute later half a dozen pair of stalwart arms 
tugging at the captain’s rope, hauled, from the water, 
and laid on deck, the apparently lifeless body of a 
young negro, whose only garment was a pair of 
ragged canvas trousers. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


ON BOARD THE SCHOONER “SHARK.” 

C AESAR’S hopes had been raised to the highest 
pitch by the discovery of the schooner long 
before those on board caught sight of him, and by 
every means in his power he had urged his strange 
steed forward with a view to intercepting her. 
With all his efforts he could not effect much in this 
direction, for the turtle insisted on frequent inter- 
vals of rest from its exertions. However, when it 
did move, it swam with great speed, and always on 
the same course, or directly against the wind. In 
the present case this happened to be exactly the 
direction Caesar wished to take, and his only fear 
was lest the schooner should pass without her 
people seeing him. To attract attention he began 
to wave his arms wildly as soon as her hull came 
into view, and, hardly knowing what he did, to 
shout at the top of his voice. At length he was 

199 


200 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


well nigh overcome with joy to note that he had 
been discovered, and that the schooner’s course was 
altered so that she headed directly for him. 

Until she approached so close that he could 
plainly see the faces of those on board, it never 
occurred to him that he was regarded as anything 
but a commonplace sailor, shipwrecked in one of 
the ordinary ways, or that they would not rescue 
him in the regular manner by means of a boat. He 
was somewhat dismayed, therefore, to see a man 
standing in the bows of the schooner and swinging 
a noosed rope above his head, as though it w~ere to 
be flung at him. He yelled for the schooner to 
keep off and not run him down, but as he used a 
Spanish patois that would have been unintelligible 
to all on board, even could they have distinguished 
its words above the rush of water under their bows, 
no heed was paid to his cries. So the rope was 
flung, and settled about his body. At the same 
moment, to Caesar’s horror, the vessel, taking a sud- 
den sheer, was headed so directly for him that an- 
other instant would have seen him crushed to death 
by her heavy cutwater. With a despairing cry he 
gave a mighty, backward’s spring. It saved his life, 


ON BOARD THE SCHOONER “SHARK." 


201 


but did not prevent him from being struck so cruel 
a blow as to deprive him of all consciousness. 

When he was laid on deck and it was seen that 
he was indeed a human being, murmurs of dismay 
and astonishment ran through the crew. The mate 
was horrified to find how nearly his ill-considered 
act had made him a murderer, and the captain was 
filled with wrath. 

“How dared you do such a thing?” he thun- 
dered. 

“I thought it was a mermaid, sartin I did, Cap’n,” 
answered the crestfallen mate, humbly, “ and I 
knowed if we did n’t kill her, she ’d kill us.” 

“Well, sir, you’ve no business to do any thinking 
while I am on board. If I ever catch you at it 
again I ’ll break you, and see to it that you never 
obtain another certificate. Now turn to and do 
what you can for this poor fellow.” 

They dashed w T ater in Caesar’s face, and prying 
open his set teeth nearly choked him with the liquor 
they poured down his throat. After a while he 
recovered sufficiently to murmur “agua,” and some 
one understood that he was perishing of thirst. 
They gave him water sparingly, and he made a 


20 2 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


brave effort to struggle to bis feet, but sank back to 
the deck with a groan, and closed his eyes. He 
hardly opened them again in the next forty-eight 
hours. During this period of recuperation his res- 
cuers plied him with food and drink whenever he 
showed any signs of consciousness ; but in all these 
hours their curiosity regarding his remarkable arri- 
val among them was forced to remain unsatisfied. 
The last few moments of his rescue had been so 
confusing and so filled with consternation, that no 
one had seen the turtle, nor taken note of what it 
was that supported the black man in the water. 

“He must have been floating on a barrel,” said 
one, “ and his weight sunk it below the surface.” 

“ Barrel nothing ! ” exclaimed the mate, who 
overheard this remark. “ How could a barrel travel 
at a twenty-knot rate an’ to windward too ? I tell 
ye that ’s what he was logging when I fust sot eyes 
on him through the old man’s glass. Yes, siree ! 
Coming head on to the wind like a steamer, he wor, 
and, come to think of it, I ’d be a’most willing to 
take my affidavy that I seen smoke too. Not regular 
black, coal smoke, you understand, but sort o’ yallar 
an’ blue like. I tell ye, mates, there ’s suthin wrong 


ON BOARD THE SCHOONER “ SHARE.” 203 

about a craft like that, an’ the sooner we gets clear 
of it the better for us. I won’t say that I ’d go so 
far as to chuck him overboard, unless we could n’t 
ship him no other way, an’ I ’m willing to resk his 
being aboard till we make port ; but not a minute 
longer.” 

Thus poor Caesar was regarded with great sus- 
picion by his shipmates of the schooner Shark, and 
even after he was in a condition to talk they were 
very shy of holding any communication with him. 

The captain, w r ho was still determined to solve 
the mystery of his coming, believed him able to speak 
only Spanish, and waited until he could procure an 
interpreter before questioning him. 

Thus matters stood when, two days after Caesar 
was picked up, the Shark dropped anchor in the 
harbor of Baracoa, and the captain, taking Mr. 
Griggs with him, went ashore to see about procuring 
a cargo. In less than an hour they returned, bring- 
ing w T ith them a strange gentleman and a few pieces 
of hand baggage that evidently belonged to him. 
To the great surprise of the crew, the captain no 
sooner stepped on board than he ordered sails 
hoisted and the anchor to be got up. A few 


204 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


minutes later the Shark was standing out of the 
harbor she had so recently entered, but without hav- 
ing taken in a pound of cargo. 

It was not until the schooner was well under way, 
and everything was snugged down, that the mate 
condescended to explain to the crew the meaning of 
this new departure. 

“ I telled ye we would n’t hev no luck,” he said, 
“ long ’s that black jo we picked up, cavortin’ round 
the hocean without no wisible means of support, 
was on board. So, sure enough, me an’ the old man 
had n’t no sooner got ashore, than we found we 
could n’t get no cocoa-nuts inside of a week, and 
mebbe not then. While we wuz a considerin’ what 
we ’d best do, along comes a gent what wanted to 
charter us to take him over to Port-au-Prince 
in Hayti. Says he ’s got a wessel over there, wot’s 
bin seized for smuggling guns and sich like to the 
revolutioners. Her name ’s the 4 Regret ’ nigh as 
I could make out, an’ I only hope as we won’t have 
no cause to regret the job we ’ve undertook. I ad- 
wised agin the v’y’ge, seeing as we ’re likely to be 
seized ourselves by them blamed Hay-ty-ans; but 
the old man would n’t listen. He patched up some 


ON BOARD THE SCHOONER “SHARK. 


205 


sort of a trade with the gent, an’ here we be. If 
there don’t happen to be no American man-o’-war in 
port, we ’ll be apt to be a blamed sight longer 
getting away than we are in getting thar, for I tell 
ye luck ’s agin us long’s we’ve got that black Jonah 
on board.” 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE OWNER OF THE “ EGRET.” 

B Y this time Caesar had so far recovered from 
his recent thrilling experiences as to be able 
to perform a fair share of the ship’s work, and the 
mate saw to it that he was kept constantly busy. 
When the schooner was leaving the harbor of Bara- 
coa he ventured to ask one of the men if they were 
bound back to Florida. 

“So you can speak English, can you, ye black 
swab ! ” exclaimed the man, without answering his 
question. “Tell us, then, wot sort of a hinfernal 
craft you was navigating when we picked you up.” 

“ Him be a turkle,” answered Caesar, simply. 

“ A turtle ? Ho, ho ! ha, ha ! That ’s a good one. 
D’ ye hear that, mates ? This tar-coated liar says he 
wor cruising on board a turtle that time we picked 
him up in the middle of the Gulf.” 

206 


THE OWNER OF THE “EGRET.” 2QJ 

The rest of the crew joined in the torrent of ridi- 
cule directed at poor Caesar on account of this state- 
ment, and so made his life a burden that he took 
refuge in a sullen silence, refusing to hold any fur- 
ther communication with them. As a result he was 
regarded with a greater suspicion and dislike than 
ever, and was so nearly starved by his tormentors 
that he made up his mind to escape from the 
schooner in the very first port at which she should 
touch. 

“ Me tellin’ yo’ ole marse shark don’ cotch yo’ off’n 
dat ar turkle,” he would say to himself, “ but I ain’t 
’low him be er shark ship, fill wif white sharks, same 
like dish yer crew.” 

In the meantime the captain of the SJiarJc was 
so deeply interested in the story of his passenger’s 
tribulations, and in planning with him for the recov- 
ery of his vessel, that he temporarily forgot all 
about the mysterious castaway whom he had picked 
up in mid-ocean. 

The passenger was no other than Mr. Almy, 
owner of the yacht Egret, which, before he left 
Havana for an overland trip across the island, he 
had ordered to meet him at Santiago de Cuba. He 


208 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


was greatly annoyed, on reaching that port, to find 
that his yacht had not yet put in an appearance, 
and his annoyance was increased by the delay, with- 
out tidings from her, that followed. At length 
there came a rumor, by way of Baracoa, that such a 
yacht had been seized on the coast of Hayti, by a 
government gunboat, in the very act of smuggling 
ashore, for the benefit of the revolutionists, muskets 
and other contraband articles. By telegraphing to 
the American Minister at Hayti Mr. Almy learned 
that this rumor was true, and that the yacht in 
question was indeed his. He was also informed 
that the crew of the Egret were in prison at Port- 
au-Prince, at which place the yacht lay, liable at any 
moment to be condemned by the authorities, and 
seized for government use. The minister concluded 
his message with the assurance that, unless Mr. 
Almy made his way to Port-au-Prince with all 
speed, he would stand no chance of recovering his 
property. 

In this emergency the Egress owner sent his 
family back to the United States by the first 
steamer, and then tried to charter a vessel to carry 
him to Hayti. Failing in this at Santiago, he pro- 


THE OWNER OF THE “ EGRET T 20g 

ceeded to Baracoa, where he met with equal ill 
success until the arrival of the Shark Tempted 
by his liberal offer the schooner’s captain agreed to 
make the run across the windward passage, and 
take his chances of getting clear from Port-au-Prince 
without detention. He did not know just how this 
was to be accomplished ; for, during a revolution, 
all strange vessels, unless powerful enough to defy 
the authorities, were liable to tedious delays and 
heavy expenses, if not actual seizure, in any port of 
the Black Republic. 

Finally, however, the captain of the Shark hit 
upon a plan. “ I ’ll tell you what I ’ll do, Mr. 
Almy,” he said. “You see, I can’t afford to take 
any risks, and so I don’t propose to go a great way 
into that harbor. I ’ve got two boats aboard though, 
and one of them is a skiff that I can get along very 
well without. I’ve also got a nigger castaway, 
whom I meant to set ashore in Baracoa; but I 
reckon he ’ll be just as well off in Hayti. Now if 
you will buy the skiff, I ’ll throw in the nigger to 
act as crew, and set you adrift just inside the mouth 
of the harbor, but within a safe distance of shore, 
which you can then easily reach by rowing. At 


210 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


the same time the Sharis will be showing her heels 
to Port-au-Prince, and making good time back 
toward where she came from.” 

Mr. Almy readily consented to this plan, while 
poor Caesar was not consulted regarding it, being 
merely ordered to tumble into the skiff and row the 
gentleman ashore. He obeyed this order in dumb 
silence, as he had all others ; but, when the skiff was 
about half-way up the harbor, and the schooner was 
so rapidly disappearing that it was evident they 
were to hold no further communication with her, he 
rested on his oars and said : 

“ ’Scuse me, Senor, but yo’ min’ tellin’ me who yo 
is, an’ whar we gwine, an’ what we gwine do when 
we get tin’ dar ? ” 

“My name is Almy,” answered the gentleman, 
surprised that any one coming from the Shark could 
be ignorant of his personality or his business in that 
place. “I am the owner of a yacht which, for some 
reason that I can’t understand, came to this island, 
and is said to have been engaged in smuggling arms 
to the revolutionists. If I am not greatly mistaken, 
there she lies now.” With this Mr. Almy pointed 
to a trim-looking schooner lying at anchor not far 


THE OWNER OF THE “EGRET." 


2 1 1 


from where they were, and directly under the guns 
of a battery. 

Caesar turned and gazed keenly at the vessel thus 
indicated. “ What yo’ call um ? ” he asked. 

“ Her name is the Egret” 

The negro scrutinized Mr. Almy closely. 

“ An’ yo’ is her cap’n ? ” he asked. 

“ No, I am only her owner.” 

“ Den yo’ is n’t de one what would n’t stop to pick 
a po’ brack man off ’n er wreck ; but run away, an’ 
lef’ yo’ mate an’ cabin boy at de same time.” 

“ I don’t know what you mean.” 

“ No, yo’ sholy is n’t de one. He name Stare.” 

“ Staver, Captain Staver,” corrected Mr. Almy ; 
“ but what do you know of him ? and who are you ? 
and where do you come from, anyway ? ” 

“What place yo’ is callin’ dish yer?” asked 
Caesar. 

“ This place ? why, it is Port-au-Prince on the 
island of Hayti, of course.” 

“ Hayti, dat ar’ de name, what Sir Rich speakin’ 
ob, an’ him say de Regret cornin’ hyar wif gun, an’ 
ca’tridge, an’ sich, an’ Cap’ Staver, dat de name. Now 
I is know dat ar craf’.” 


212 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ What do you know ? and what are you talk- 
ing about ? and who is this Sir Rich ? ” 

“ Sir Rich ? Sholy you mils’ know him, when him 
bin mate ob dat bery schooner. He name Marse 
Gale Ellicot, but ole Sir Rich him great gran’- 
fodder.” 

“ Where is he ? and how do you happen to know 
him ? and what did he have to do with this out- 
rage ? ” demanded Mr. Almy, excitedly. 

“ Me lef’ him in de cave, long wif Marse Penrose,” 
replied Caesar, “an’ if me ain’t gittin’ back bery 
quick, dey is have trouble shuah.” Then, in his 
broken and hardly comprehensible English, he re- 
lated the whole story of his adventures in connection 
with Gale Ellicot and Aleck Penrose. When he 
concluded, Mr. Almy w T as possessed of a much clearer 
idea of what had happened to his yacht than at any 
time since learning of her seizure. 

Suddenly, when the occupants of the skiff were 
still unravelling the perplexities of their situation, 
a guard boat filled with black soldiers from the 
battery ran alongside and, after a few unintelligible 
questions, placed both Mr. Almy and Caesar under 
arrest and carried them ashore. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


CAESAR AS A SOLDIER, 



O be arrested is an unpleasant experience, even 


-L when one is innocent of wrong-doing ; and 
when, as in the present case, the arrest is followed 
by a night of misery amid the filth and vermin of a 
suffocatingly close guard-house, the unpleasantness 
of the experience is decidedly increased. Mr. Almy 
was furious, not so much at the arrest as at the im- 
prisonment that followed, and the obstinacy that re- 
fused to inform him why he was arrested, to give his 
case a prompt investigation before some one in 
authority, or even to allow him to communicate 
with the American Minister. In this emergency 
Csesar, who was his fellow-prisoner, came to the 
yacht owner’s relief ; for, while the black guards 
refused to hold any communication with the white 
man, they were less reticent with one of their own 
color. Thus the young negro finally succeeded in 


214 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


bribing one of them to carry a message to the 
American Minister. 

Since the episode of the Egret the Haytian au- 
thorities had watched all American vessels very 
closely, and the strange movements of the schooner 
Shark had caused the occupants of the skiff that 
came from her to be regarded with great suspicion. 
This was so deep-rooted that all the influence of the 
American Minister, backed by that of the command- 
er of a United States man-of-war that happened to 
be in the harbor, was required to overcome it and 
effect Mr. Almy’s release on the day following that 
of his arrest. As for poor Caesar, even all this in- 
fluence could not avail to free him. He could not 
claim to be an American citizen, nor could he give a 
satisfactory explanation of how he happened to be 
on board the Shark. So he was offered his choice 
of being shot as a spy, or of enlisting in the Haytian 
army. Of course he accepted the latter alternative, 
and within twenty-four hours of the time when he 
had anxiously inquired of Mr. Almy what country 
they were approaching, he found himself enrolled as 
one of its armed defenders. There was no time for 
the drilling of awkward squads in the Haytian army, 


CAESAR AS A SOLDIER. 


215 


and from the hour that a man enlisted in it, or was 
pressed into service, he was a full-fledged soldier. 
Thus before Caesar had gained even the rudiments of 
a soldier’s education, he was furnished with an old 
musket and assigned to guard duty at the carcel or 
city prison. In this building were confined the cap- 
tain and crew of the yacht Egret / and, sorely as they 
chafed at their detention, they were in hopes of a 
speedy release. 

Captain Staver claimed that the contraband arti- 
cles brought to the island by the Egret had been 
smuggled on board by the mate of the yacht with- 
out his knowledge. He stated that, owing to his own 
exposure and exertions during the gale which struck 
the Egret soon after leaving Havana, he had been 
taken seriously ill and confined to his room. That 
during his illness the mate was in full charge of the 
vessel, and that, instead of taking her directly to 
Santiago he had directed her course to a portion of 
the Haytian coast known to be held by the rebels. 
That he had there compelled the crew to land the 
contraband articles, though at the time they knew 
nothing of the contents of the packages they were 
handling. That during his illness his only attendant 


21 6 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


was the cabin boy, a lad who had been engaged 
by the mate, and was known to be in that officer’s 
confidence. That this boy had told him, when the 
schooner came to anchor, that she was in the harbor 
of Santiago, and that the objects being landed were 
water-casks. He claimed that the first intimation 
he received of anything being wrong, was when the 
Haytian gunboat captured the yacht. He also said 
that upon the approach of the gunboat the mate and 
cabin boy of the Egret had made good their escape 
to land. 

This plausible story was corroborated in every 
detail by every member of the Egress crew. In its 
further support Captain Staver had, by the aid of 
certain drugs, so successfully simulated illness, that, 
when the yacht was captured, he was found lying 
in his berth, to all appearances a very sick man. 
Although he was now evidently recovering, he still 
feigned such extreme weakness that he was given 
a greater freedom, and was less carefully guarded 
than the rest of the prisoners. 

Up to the time of Mr. Almy’s appearance on the 
scene, Captain Staver’s story had been so fully be- 
lieved by the American Minister, that he had been 


CsESAR ASA SOLDIER. 21 7 

most active in his efforts to secure the release of the 
prisoners. Now, however, in view of the character 
given to both the mate and the cabin boy of the 
Egret by Mr. Almy, and the undeviating tale told 
by Caesar in the several severe examinations he was 
forced to undergo, the eyes of both the minister and 
the government authorities were opened to the true 
state of affairs. 

About this time, too, one of the prisoners was 
recognized as having been concerned in a previous 
revolution, and banished from the island, under 
penalty of being shot if he returned to it. Now, 
under promise that this sentence should be remitted, 
he turned state’s evidence, and affirmed the truth of 
Caesar’s story. He furthermore stated that the scheme 
of supplying the rebels with arms, and also of turn- 
ing the Egret over to them for use as a gunboat, had 
been fully matured before she left Boston. He be- 
lieved it would have been attempted long before it 
was, had it not been for the incorruptibility of the 
young mate and the difficulty of getting rid of him. 

These disclosures of course put an end to all 
thoughts of releasing the Egret's crew, and the only 
question now to be considered, was what form of 


218 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


punishment should be dealt out to them. There was 
a strong feeling in favor of the execution — at least 
of their leader, — as a warning to others who might 
be inclined to embark in enterprises similar to the 
one he had undertaken. Captain Staver would un- 
doubtedly have suffered this fate, but for the pres- 
ence in the harbor of the United States man-of-war, 
whose commander declared that no American citizen 
should be executed for a political offence in the 
Black Republic, while he was there to prevent it. 

By some means the prisoners became acquainted 
with the foregoing facts, and they determined to 
attempt a long-meditated plan of escape while 
there was still a chance of its success. Ever since 
his incarceration, the supposed sick man, who had 
lain so quietly in bed all day apparently too weak 
to move, had been actively engaged at night in saw- 
ing iron bars and filing rivets. At length every 
member of his crew could cast aside his fetters at 
a moment’s notice, and the iron grating of a window 
in the rear of the prison was ready to be wrenched 
out with slight effort. The Egret still lay in the 
harbor with a guard of but four men on board, it 
being supposed that her safety was assured by the 


CALSAR ASA SOLDIER. 


219 


guns of the battery, close to which she was moored. 
Captain Staver was willing to risk a fire from these if 
once he could regain possession of the yacht on some 
dark night. To accomplish this, the fugitives would 
have to pass but a single sentry who patrolled the 
space immediately behind the prison wall, and who 
was always a raw recruit, the more experienced sol- 
diers being invariably sent to the front. Thus, etfen 
if this guard should discover and challenge the es- 
caping prisoners, it was believed that he would be 
confused by skilfully worded answers, and so re- 
strained from firing until they could approach close 
enough to capture and disarm him by a sudden rush. 
With this sentry disposed of, it would be compara- 
tively easy to find a boat in which to attempt the 
boarding and capture of the Egret . 


CHAPTER XXX. 


FIRE FIRST AND THEN CHALLENGE. 

T the particular hour of the dark night selected 



by Captain Staver and his companions as being 
favorable to their meditated escape, the most recent 
addition to the Haytian army happened to be on 
sentry duty behind the prison, a post that he now 
occupied for the first time. As he paced slowly up 
and down his beat, he was also very busily thinking. 

“In case you note the advance of any suspicious 
person, challenge and count five ; then, if you have 
not received a satisfactory answer, fire, and call the 
corporal of the guard.” These had been the final 
instructions given by the officer who had stationed 
the new recruit at that post. As he walked back 
and forth, with his old musket awkwardly shoul- 
dered, and his whole appearance as un-soldier-like as 
can well be imagined, the sentry, at whom Captain 
Earl Staver and his men would only have laughed, 


220 


FIRE FIRST AND THEN CHALLENGE. 


221 


could they have seen him, repeated his instructions 
over and over, to impress them indelibly upon his 
memory. Gradually, however, his thoughts drifted 
away, until they were with the distant friends wTom 
he had left in the cavern of the Coral Ship, and he 
wondered if they had escaped from that predica- 
ment. Should he ever see them again, or know of 

their fate ? Should The sentry’s meditations 

w^ere suddenly interrupted by certain mysterious 
sounds, close at hand, and, thus recalled to his duty, 
he made a hasty effort to repeat his instructions 
“Fire, count five, challenge, an’ call de corp’ral ob 
de gyard.” Was that it? It did n’t somehow seem 

exactly right, but what is that? A dim form 

is advancing swiftly toward him. The next instant 
a deafening report rings out on the still night air, 
there is a fall, a challenge of “who come dar?” and 
then the sounds of a furious struggle. 

A minute later the corporal of the guard and his 
men found their newest recruit standing panting, 
but victorious, over two of the Egret's crew whom 
he had hurled to the ground, while a short distance 
from them lay the lifeless body of Captain Earl 
Staver. He had led the escape, and so fell a victim 


222 


THE CORAL SHIP . 


to the bullet of a sentry who believed it his duty 
to fire first and challenge afterwards. Only two men 
had followed him, the others being so alarmed by 
the musket-shot, that they hurriedly retreated to the 
cells they had fondly hoped never to see again. 

For this exploit the new recruit not only received 
great praise from his superiors, but was made a 
corporal. He was also provided with an alleged 
uniform, in the shape of an old blue blouse that 
still retained one brass button, and a brimless straw 
hat to which was attached a red pompon. Although 
the incident, that covered him with such glory 
created much excitement at the time, it was quickly 
forgotten in the rush of stirring events that followed. 
The rebels were reported to be advancing on Cape 
Haytian, the American man-of-war went around there 
to see what was going on, and all available troops, 
Corporal Caesar among the rest, were ordered to the 
front. 

On the very day that they were to leave, Mr. 
Almy, who, as a victim of official procrastination, 
was almost in despair of ever recovering his yacht, 
managed to secure a few minutes’ unobserved con- 
versation with the newly fledged corporal. 


FIRE FIRST AND THEN CHALLENGE. 223 

“ It does n’t look as though they ever intended to 
release my vessel in spite of all their promises,” be- 
gan the Egret's owner. 

“ How den, we is gwine get back to Sir Rich ? ” 
demanded the negro, whose sole object in life was 
to go to the relief of the castaways on the island. 

“ I have made up my mind to gain possession of 
the yacht, and run her out at night, if I can get 
even one man to help me. Will you be that one ? ” 

“Ob cose ! Me bery glad ! Me take my squad, 
go cotch um now, ’spose yo’ say so,” replied Corporal 
Caesar, who believed his present authority to be 
only limited by the fighting abilities of his immediate 
command. 

“ No,” laughed Mr. Almy, “ I am afraid that plan 
would n’t work. In fact, you must not give a living 
soul the slightest cause to suspect our intentions. I 
propose to put our plan into execution this very 
night ; but all the same you must march out of town 
with the rest of the troops, as though you had no 
idea of halting this side of Cape Haytian. As soon 
as possible, after dark, though, you must manage to 
slip out of camp and return to the city. At mid- 
night I will be waiting in a boat, on the south side 


224 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


of the man-o’-war landing-stage. Take this whistle, 
and when you reach the landing blow it very gently, 
that I may recognize you. Now be very careful, and 
remember that if this plan fails, the chances are that 
you will never again see your friend ‘ Sir Rich,’ as 
you call him.” 

“ Yes, sah, me onstan’ ; an’ me be dar, shuah,” re- 
plied the young negro, at the some time grinning 
broadly at the prospect of so exciting an adventure. 

The disorderly mob of black, ragged, poorly 
equipped, and undrilled troops intended for Cape 
Haytian, marched out of Port-au-Prince that even- 
ing, leaving the city almost without a military 
guard. The fate of the government depended 
wholly upon the battle to be fought as soon 
as these troops encountered the rebels, and Mr. 
Almy knew that now or never he must regain pos- 
session of his yacht. If the government should win 
the coming battle, it would be harder to deal with 
than ever. On the other hand, if the rebels gained 
the day, and so became the ruling party, they would 
be very loth to relinquish a piece of property so 
valuable as the yacht, for which they had already 
paid so dearly. 


FIRE FIRST AND THEN CHALLENGE . 225 

Thus compelled to act by himself for himself, and 
with a liberal but judicious expenditure of money, 
the Egress owner laid his plans, for the carrying out 
of which he must depend so entirely upon the good 
faith, courage, and skill of Corporal Caesar. 

“ It is a fortunate thing for me,” said Mr. Almy to 
himself, “that Gale Ellicot, acting as my mate, man- 
aged to obtain so remarkable an influence over this 
black fellow. I honestly believe the prospect of 
rejoining Gale is the only thing in the world that 
would induce the corporal to relinquish his newly 
acquired military position.” 

After dark Mr. Almy brought the skiff, that he 
had purchased ostensibly to go fishing in, around 
to the man-of-war landing, and at midnight he sat in 
it awaiting, with such patience as he could command, 
the coming of his black ally. 

Csesar arrived a few minutes late, but breathless 
and panting. “ Dey ’s affer me ! De whole squad ’s 
er cornin’ ! ” he gasped, as he tumbled into the skiff 
and, seizing the carefully muffled oars, shot her out 
into the darkness. 

Sure enough, in another moment the place they 
had just left was filled with the sounds of running 

*5 


226 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


feet and excited voices ; but as no one connected the 
deserter with the yacht Egret , nor supposed for a 
moment that he had taken to the water, the pursuit 
soon drifted away in another direction. 

As, after a long but cautiously directed search, 
the skiff finally drifted alongside of a black bulk, 
which Mr. Almy recognized as the yacht Egret , it 
was promptly challenged by the watch on deck. 

“ Who come dar ? ” 

“Ossifer wif de countersign,” replied Caesar, who 
had picked up this bit of military knowledge during 
his short term of service. 

“ Advance, ossifer, an’ gib up de countersign befo’ 
yo’ steps on deck.” 

Caesar obeyed this order, and, being closely fol- 
lowed by Mr. Almy, they had the only two men left 
on board the yacht knocked down, bound, and 
gagged, ere these found a chance to give an alarm. 

The tide was ebbing, a circumstance that had 
been taken into account in Mr. Almy’s calculations, 
and, two minutes later, the Egret , with her cable 
cut, was drifting down the harbor. In order to give 
her steerage-way, Caesar began to hoist the jib. As 
he did this, the unavoidable rattle of blocks drew 



“WHO COMES DAR?” 



























v*,» .. 


























\ 

% 
















































»* 





















FIRE FIRST AND THEN CHALLENGE . 227 

a sharp hail from the battery, beneath the guns of 
which the yacht had been moored. There being no 
answer, it was repeated, and then, with a flash and 
a roar, a cannon-ball was hurled at the place where 
she had been. It was too late, for there were no 
search-lights, at least not in Hayti in those days. 
The Egret had already gathered headway, and was 
slipping swiftly away through the darkness, and out 
of the harbor, before a steady, off-shore breeze. By 
Mr. Almy’s orders, Caesar had severed the prisoners’ 
bonds, and compelled them to hoist the heavy main- 
sail, and afterwards the foresail. Then, when the 
yacht was fairly clear of the land, he invited them 
to enter the skiff, cast off its painter, and allowed it 
to drop out of sight astern. 

Thus with a crew of but two men, one of whom, 
however, was possessed of the strength of three 
ordinary sailors, while the other was a first-class 
navigator, the good yacht Egret sailed away from 
the waters of the Black Republic, and started in 
search of her lost mate and cabin boy. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


A GOLDEN YASE FROM THE CORAL SHIP. 

HEN Aleck Penrose awoke after twelve 



hours of dreamless sleep, the morning sun 


was already well above the horizon. Many birds 
were singing in the dense foliage above him, and, 
softened by distance, the ceaseless fret of waves 
against the rock-bound coast came to him as a 
pleasant murmur. For some minutes he lay motion- 
less, drowsily enjoying his surroundings. Finally he 
sat up, and looked about him. Gale was nowkere 
to be seen. “ Where can he be, I wonder ? ” solilo- 
quized the boy. “ He must have gone to the field 
to hunt up something for breakfast.” 

The fire was burning brightly, and had evidently 
been recently replenished, so Gale must be all right, 
and there could be no occasion for uneasiness. 
Aleck went down to the lake for a dip in its cool 
waters, and was returning to camp, when a shout 
announced the coming of his comrade. 


228 


A GOLDEN VASE FROM THE CORAL SHIP. 229 

As Gale reached the place where they had slept, 
he carefully deposited on the ground something at 
w T hich Aleck gazed in amazement. It was a golden 
vase of quaint design and exquisite workmanship, 
and the young mate regarded it with an air of proud 
satisfaction and repressed excitement. 

“ What is it, Gale? where did you get it? You 
have n’t been in that awful cavern again ! ” ex- 
claimed Aleck. 

“ That ’s exactly where I have been, old man, and 
that is where I mean to go again. I don’t like it 
much better than you do, but I can’t afford to leave 
such prizes as this lying around loose for some one 
else to pick up. Why, Aleck, my boy, do you real- 
ize that there is a fortune for both of us down there 
inside that old shell of coral, and only waiting to be 
gathered up? I don’t believe you half appreciate 
the tremendous luck that has befallen us.” 

“No,” replied Aleck, soberly, picking up the 
golden vase as he spoke and gazing at it reflectively, 
“ I don’t suppose I do. I only realize the horror of 
that dreadful place and how nearly we lost our lives 
in there. When I think of it, I know that not all 
the wealth of the world could tempt me to go through 


230 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


that awful water again. I realize that Caesar is dead, 
and that we are cast away on this unhappy island 
with no chance of leaving it, unless the Indians take 
us off, and I ’d rather stay here than have that 
happen. So, even if we could recover the treasure 
from the Coral Ship, which I now wish we never 
had found, I don’t see what good it would do us. 
Without Caesar to help us I don’t believe we can get 
it any way.” 

“ All that you have said is very true,” answered 
Gale, munching at a big yellow banana as he spoke, 
“and, when I woke up, an hour or so ago, I felt 
very much as you do. You see I dreamed all night 
of my dear little home away up north in Rockpine, 
and of the troubles that are crowding into it. I 
don’t believe that I ever told you that there is a 
thousand-dollar mortgage on our place that will be 
foreclosed if it is n’t paid by the first of May, and 
that if that happens I shall lose one of the very 
dearest homes any fellow ever had.” 

“No,” said Aleck, sympathetically, “you never 
told me about it, and I am awfully sorry to hear it.” 

“Well, the mortgage is there,” continued Gale, 
“ and I dreamed of it last night, until, when I woke 


A GOLDEN VASE FROM THE CORAL SHIP. 23 I 

up, it seemed as though I could hear mother begging 
me not to let her home be taken from her. For a 
few minutes I felt blue enough, I can tell you. 
Then, all of a sudden, I remembered the Coral Ship, 
and the bunch of oysters enclosing some yellow 
metal that I brought up from it. You remember, 
we were looking at it when the big wave washed 
over the ledge and put out our fire.” 

“ Indeed I do. That is one of the times I shall 
never forget. The wave came just as I was looking 
at the metal and wondering if it could be gold. This 
vase is n’t what we were looking at, is it ? ” 

“Yes, it was the golden foundation of that very 
bunch of oysters, and I had a job finding it too. 
Now there must be more like it where this came 
from, and I for one don’t propose to throw away 
any such a chance of raising that mortgage. What 
do you suppose the lump of coral Caesar brought up 
turned out to be ? ” 

“ Can’t imagine. Gold, perhaps \ ” 

“ No, not gold ; but the next thing to it, a pig of 
solid silver, and so heavy that I did n’t dare try 
to fetch it out through the front door, much as I 
wanted to.” 


232 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ But what can we do without Caesar ? ” demanded 
Aleck, who began to feel a return of his old enthu- 
siasm regarding the lost treasure ship. 

“ I don’t know. It makes my heart ache to real- 
ize how much we have lost in more ways than one 
by that faithful fellow’s death. I have thought of 
a plan though. You see I can’t do anything down 
there alone, and you say you won’t ever go into the 
cave again through the front door.” 

“ Through that awful water ? No, indeed ! I 
never will.” 

“ Well, I can’t blame you; but I’ve thought of 
opening a back door by enlarging the blow-hole.” 

“I thought you said the rock was too hard for the 
axe to cut.” 

So it is, on the surface ; but it is quite soft under- 
neath, and besides the hole ought to be enlarged 
from below as much as possible, so that no more of 
the work may be visible from the outside than is 
absolutely necessary. You know we are liable to be 
visited by Indians at any time. But anyhow, I don’t 
propose to use the axe to cut rock with. It is too val- 
uable for that. I think we can find some bits of old 
iron in the junk pile that will answer our purpose.” 


A GOLDEN VASE FROM THE CORAL SHIP. 233 

“ There ’s nothing there with an edge to it.” 

“ We ’ll make edges.” 

“Besides, it ’s only iron, and we ought to have 
steel to cut rock with.” 

“We ’ll turn it into steel, or at least we ’ll harden 
it.” 

Although Aleck, who knew nothing of the black- 
smith’s art, wondered how this was to be done, he 
decided to wait and see instead of asking questions. 

After a breakfast of fruit, potatoes, and a few 
oysters that Gale had brought with him from the 
cavern, the two lads, full of their new project, vis- 
ited the junk pile beside the landing! Here, while 
Gale selected some bits of iron that he thought 
might be made into drills, Aleck, under his direc- 
tion, built a fire of dry, hard wood on the rocks, 
close beside a pool of water. When this fire had 
produced a fierce bed of coals, Gale thrust one end 
of his irons into them. To withdraw and hold 
these he used a green stick with a cleft end. The 
cleft was held open by a long wedge until the iron 
was within it. Then, the wedge being withdrawn, 
the enclosed object was held fast. 

Using an old anchor as an anvil, and the axe as a 


234 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


hammer, Gale beat the red-hot end of each of the 
irons into a fairly sharp cutting edge. After being 
re-heated, this was hardened by being plunged into 
cold water. In this manner the boys had, by noon, 
fashioned half a dozen rude drills. The rest of the 
day was devoted to removing these to the cavern, 
and in constructing another camp at the extreme 
upper end of the island, nearly two miles from the 
old one, and as remote from the usual landing-place 
of the Indians as they could get. 

On the following day they began operations in 
earnest at the blow-hole, Gale working inside the 
cavern, while Aleck, from above, carefully chipped 
away the surface rock. As they could not work at 
high tide, it took two weeks of persistent toil to en- 
large the opening sufficiently to enable them to pass 
through it. When this was done, they removed as 
completely as possible all exterior traces of their 
work, and scattered some weather-beaten rocks care- 
lessly about the opening, so as to conceal it from 
any but the closest observation. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


GALE OUTWITS THE INDIANS. 



LECK PENROSE shuddered as he found 


himself once more within the hateful cavern, 
where he had suffered so much ; but the greater 
volume of light that now penetrated it, and the 
certainty that he could escape from it at any moment, 
gave him courage to remain. He now saw for the 
first time the great bar or “pig ” of silver that Caesar 
had brought up, and from which Gale had removed 
most of the enclosing coral. He was greatly disap- 
pointed in its appearance, for its surface was almost 
as black as coal, whereas he had expected it to be 
bright and shining. When, however, Gale, with a 
few deep scratches, exposed the brighter metal 
underlying the oxydized surface, Aleck was fully 
satisfied, and became eager to aid in recovering more 
of the precious bars. He was even more excited 
than he had been at sight of the golden vase ; for, 


236 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


in bis poverty-stricken life, be bad seen and bandied 
silver at a few rare intervals, but gold be bad only 
known by hearsay. 

“Can it really be silver, Gale,” be cried, “ tbe 
same as they make dollars and quarters and dimes 
of ?” 

“ It really is tbe very same kind of silver,” replied 
tbe other. 

“ How many dimes do you suppose could be made 
out of this lump ? ” 

“ Ob, I don’t know. Several thousand I should 
think.” 

“Several thousand dimes! Why, Gale Ellicot ! 
do you suppose anybody ever bad so much money 
as that at one time ? ” cried tbe incredulous boy. 

“ I guess they have,” laughed Gale, “ and now I ’m 
going down for another thousand or so.” 

Thus saying tbe young mate, who had been strip- 
ping off bis clothing, dove down to the source of all 
this wealth, the coral-encrusted galleon, on which 
his great-great-grandfather had once sailed as a 
captive. With the increased light pouring into the 
cavern, the outlines of the ship could be traced much 
more distinctly than before, and Aleck watched with 


GALE OUTWITS THE INDIANS. 237 

breathless interest every movement of his comrade 
beneath the green waters. To his great disappoint- 
ment Gale reappeared in less than a minute empty- 
handed. 

“ It ’s going to be awful hard work,” he gasped 
as he lay on the rocky shelf recovering his breath. 
“ They are all cemented together with coral. If I 
were as strong as Caesar was, I might wrench them 
loose ; but as I ’m not, I must have some sort of a 
bar down there to pry with. So I guess I ’ll go over 
to the landing for a couple of those long copper bolts, 
while you return to camp and get supper ready. It 
is too late to do anything more down here to-day 
anyhow.” 

Our castaways had been so interested in their 
recent labors, and in planning for their ultimate 
escape from the island, that they had almost ceased 
to think of the Indians who were liable to visit it at 
any time. They had begun by cautiously exploring 
the lower end of their domain every morning, before 
going to work ; but of late they had neglected to do 
this, and only went as far as the field when in need 
of a fresh supply of provisions. On this particular 
evening, however, they were recalled to a sense of 


238 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


clanger by Gale’s discovery, near the lake, of a camp- 
fire surrounded by the scattered remnants of a feast, 
and from the landing-place, to which he advanced 
with the greatest caution, of a small fleet of canoes 
just disappearing in the distance. 

“ Oh, Gale ! ” cried Aleck, when he heard this 
news, “let us think of some way of escaping from 
this dreadful place at once. Never mind the treas- 
ure. What good would all the gold and silver in 
the world do us, if we should fall into the hands 
of the savages ? Did n’t you say there were bones 
scattered about the fire ? Then they must have 
been eating their prisoners, like the cannibals in 
Robinson Crusoe. Please, let ’s work at a boat or 
something to get away with, instead of bothering 
any more with that silver.” 

“ Nonsense, old man ! ” replied Gale. “ What- 
ever the Indians of this country are, they are not 
cannibals, that is certain ; and I don’t believe they ’d 
even kill us, if they caught us.” 

“ They killed poor Caesar.” 

“We don’t know that. Perhaps he was drowned. 
At any rate, I ’m not going to abandon the coral 
ship until I have got enough out of her to pay that 


GALE OUTWITS THE INDIANS. 239 

mortgage, and have something left over too. As for 
a boat, you know well enough, we could n’t build 
one with only an old dull axe to work with. We 
could n’t make even a raft, that would do anything 
more than drift out to sea with the current, and how 
would we be any better off then ? Now my plan is, 
to wait patiently a little longer, gather in what 
silver we can from the Coral Ship, and then let the 
Indians provide us with a means of escape.” 

“How?” 

“ By lending us one of their canoes the next time 
they come. It is n’t likely that we will see any- 
thing more of them for several weeks, though we ’ll 
keep a careful look-out from this time on. In the 
meantime we ’ll get up just as much of that silver 
as ever we can, and have it all ready to carry away 
at the first opportunity. When the Indians come, 
I ’ll watch till they are busy with their feasting, and 
then I ’ll sneak their canoes. We ’ll keep one for 
our own use, and set the others adrift, so they 
can’t follow us. How does that strike you for a 
scheme ? ” 

“ I think it is a pretty desperate one,” answered 
Aleck, doubtfully. 


240 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


As no better plan suggested itself, however, the 
lads worked ten days longer with it always in their 
minds. During this time Gale, even with the aid of 
his copper levers, only succeeded in wrenching loose 
and bringing to the surface six more of the silver 
bars. He brought up a vast quantity of worthless 
objects, which, in the obscurity, and while covered 
with coral or oysters, he could not distinguish from 
those he sought. Only when Aleck had knocked 
off their casings, was their value or worthlessness 
discovered. 

At length came the day for which they had 
watched so anxiously, and with so much of trepida- 
tion, the day that brought another fleet of Indian 
canoes to the island. As usual, the savages arrived 
in the morning, prepared to spend a day in the 
cultivation of their field and in feasting. Before 
dark they would leave, for no Indian would willingly 
spend a night on the island. The sounds that occa- 
sionally greeted them from the blow-hole, a phe- 
nomenon they had never dared investigate, were too 
frightful. They believed them to be the wailings of 
departed members of their tribe, who, having met 
death by drowning, were thereby unfitted for the 


GALE OUTWITS THE INDIANS. 


24 


happy hunting-grounds. Only by the capture of 
some living person, and dragging him beneath the 
waves, to take his place, could one of these unhappy 
spirits escape from his watery purgatory. 

Having gained an inkling of this superstition by 
reflecting upon the previous visits of the Indians, 
Gale somewhat modified his plan of action. “In- 
stead of setting all the canoes adrift,” he said to 
Aleck, “ I shall float away with one as quietly as 
possible, and hide it somewhere in the mangroves, 
leaving the others for them to take their departure 
in, as they are almost certain to do before dark. 
Then, after they have gone, we can get our silver on 
board, and prepare for' our own voyage at our 
leisure. I want you to promise me one thing 
though. It is that' you will go into the cavern the 
minute I start for the canoes, and stay there until 
sundown, if you don’t hear from me sooner. I 
hardly think you will hear from me before that, for 
I expect to remain in hiding myself, with the canoe, 
until dark, unless I have a certain knowledge that 
the Indians have gone away earlier.” 

Aleck promised to do as Gale desired, and then, 
from a place of concealment, the two watched the 

16 


242 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Indians. Until long after noon these worked dili- 
gently in the field. When their labors there were 
ended they sat down to a feast that caused the 
watchers to realize how very hungry they were 
themselves. 

Now was the time for action, and, after a whis- 
pered farewell, Aleck returned to the cavern, while 
Gale stole cautiously in the direction of the canoes. 
He succeeded in reaching them, getting one afloat, 
and starting off in it without detection. There, 
however, his good fortune ended ; for an Indian, 
who happened to visit the canoes in search of some 
missing article, caught sight of him just as he was 
disappearing around a point of mangroves, and 
raised a shrill cry of alarm. Three minutes later 
the pursuit had begun. 

Gale had purposely directed his course toward the 
back, or inshore, side of the island, for there the 
mangroves were thickest. Ere he had time to select 
a hiding-place, however, he heard the savage cries 
of his pursuers, and knew that he had been detected. 
Now his only hope was to keep out of their sight 
until he had rounded the upper end of the island. 
Then, abandoning his canoe, he hoped to regain the 


GALE OUTWITS THE INDIANS. 243 

cave by making a short cut through the forest. To 
his dismay this plan was also upset, for as he gained 
the point, there on the rocks stood an Indian who 
had hastened across the island on foot in the hope 
of thus intercepting him. 

For a moment even Gale’s stout heart failed him, 
and there seemed no possible way of escape. Yes 
there was though. There was one chance left. It 
was a very slender one, but still a chance. Again 
the lad bent over his paddle, tugging at it for dear 
life. The nearest of the pursuing canoes gained on 
him rapidly. Now it is only a few feet away. Now 
its bow touches the stern of the one in which he 
sits. Suddenly, as Gale makes a last desperate 
effort to escape, his frail craft capsizes, and floats 
bottom upward with him beneath it. A few sec- 
onds later a shrill but muffled cry, sounding like a 
wail of mortal agony, rises on the evening air. The 
bewildered Indians glance at their surroundings and 
discover that they are in the immediate vicinity of 
the awful spot haunted by the drowned of their 
tribe. They call to each other that the white lad 
whom they have been pursuing has been seized by 
invisible hands, and drawn down into the purgatory 


244 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


of waters. They right the capsized canoe, but find 
nothing beneath it. At this confirmation of their 
fears they bend lustily to their paddles and fly in 
terror. 



NOW IT IS ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY 




CHAPTER XXXIII. 


JOY TREADS ON THE HEELS OF DESPAIR. 

LECK obeyed Gale’s instructions so far as to 



PI return to the cavern, and conceal himself 
within its gloomy recesses ; but he could not resist 
the desire to lift his head above the edge of the 
blow-hole, now and then, for a glance at his sur- 
roundings. He felt guilty every time he did this, 
for he realized that if the Indians caught a glimpse 
of him while in this position, not only would his 
own capture be certain, but that of his companion 
would follow as a matter of course. After the 
second of these furtive surveys of the situation, dur- 
ing which he saw nothing to alarm him, the boy 
struggled against the desire to take another, for what 
seemed to him an age. At length he could resist 
no longer, and, very cautiously, he began a third 
ascent of the narrow shaft. His head had not quite 
reached the surface, w 7 hen he was suddenly seized by 


245 


246 


7' HE CORAL SHIP. 


the legs and jerked violently backward. The poor 
boy littered a yell of terror as he was dragged down 
into the cavern, for he believed that he had fallen 
into the hands of the Indians, and that his last hour 
had come. 

When Gale Ellicot purposely overturned his stolen 
canoe and dived from it, he had calculated his posi- 
tion so nicely that he was exactly over the submarine 
entrance to the cavern. A moment later he had 
cleared the rocky portal and gained its interior. The 
very first object on which his eyes rested was the 
lower portion of Aleck’s body being drawn slowly 
up through the opening to the outer surface. There 
was no time to utter a warning or for deliberate 
action. I11 an instant Gale had seized hold of the 
unsuspecting lad, and pulled him back into the safety 
of their gloomy hiding-place. 

“ How could you do such a thing, Gale ? ” began 
Aleck, indignantly, the moment he realized who it 
was that had treated him with such scant ceremony. 
“You frightened me almost to death.” 

“ I expect you would have been frightened wholly 
to death in another minute if I had not done it,” re- 
plied the other, grimly. “ Why, old man, the Indians 


JOY TREADS ON THE HEELS OF DESPAIR. 247 

are just swarming around this place, both on land 
and water. If they had caught sight of you it would 
have been all up with us. As it is I am afraid that 
yell of yours has done the business, and will bring 
them in here after us. Our only hope now is to get 
back there in the dark and trust to our luck to keep 
them from seeing us.” 

So the two lads scrambled to that remote corner 
of the cavern where they had already passed one 
night of terror. From here, while Gale told in low 
tones of his unsuccessful attempt to secure a means 
of escape from the island, and how nearly he had 
been captured, and while Aleck related his exper- 
iences, they both watched, with fascinated gaze, the 
patch of lighted water beneath the blow-hole. Once 
Gale thought he heard a faint, far-away, booming 
noise, like the firing of a gun ; but as Aleck did not 
hear it, he fancied himself mistaken. 

After an hour spent in this fashion, Gale grew so 
impatient of the suspense and inaction that he de- 
clared he must go and discover, in some way, what 
was taking place outside. 

“ Then I shall go too,” said Aleck, in a determined 
voice. “I will never be left here alone again.” 


248 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Gale agreed that Aleck should go with him, and 
they were about to start, when, with a horrified 
gasp, the latter clutched his companion’s arm. 
“ They ’ve come ! ” he whispered hoarsely. “ See 
there ! ” 

Gale certainly did see, and his heart sank like lead 
at the sight. A man, and a black one at that, was 
slowly drawing himself from the water, and gazing 
cautiously about him. The young castaways hardly 
breathed as they crouched low in their hiding-place 
and stared at him. Through the gloom they could 
not distinguish his features, but of course he w 7 as an 
Indian, and would presently be joined by others. 
Then the search that must lead to their discovery 
would begin. 

How bitterly Aleck repented of that outcry, and of 
the incautiousness that led to it. How Gale wished 
he had let the canoes alone, as he remembered that, 
but for him, the Indians would, ere this, have de- 
parted, leaving them in peace and safety. How both 
of them wished that, instead of wasting their time 
and strength over the recovery of sunken treasure, 
they had devoted all their energies to escaping from 
the island. But it was all too late now. Never 


JOY TREADS ON THE HEELS OF DESPAIR. 249 

again would they see their distant loved ones, nor 
would their fate ever be known. In a few minutes 
more all would be over for them. See ! even now 
the Indian is approaching them. Now he is shout- 
ing to his comrades. What ! Can it be ? Impossible ! 

The dead can’t shout with the voice of the living ! 

© 

Again the startling cry rang through the echoing 
recesses of the cavern, “ Sir Rich ! Sir Rich Allason ! 
Ohe, Sir Rich ! ” 

With an answering, but inarticulate, cry of 
mingled ecstasy, amazement, and incredulity, Gale 
Ellicot sprang from his place of concealment. In 
another moment he had actually flung his arms 
about the negro’s neck, and was hugging him. 

“ Caesar alive and well ! Can it be Caesar ! or is it 
his ghost ? ” 

“ No sah, boss ! me ain’t no ghos’ ! ” cried the black, 
almost choked by the other’s embrace, and almost as 
wild as he with joy. “ Me be ’er shuah ’nough libe 
nigger ; am’ de happies’ in de work. Me jess a 
gibbing up, an’ sayin’ taint no use. Deys gone, 
an’ me nebber see ’em no mo’. Den me tink me 
gib one litty yell, an’ sho ’nough, hit fotch um.” 

u But how can it be ? Where have you been ? 


250 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Where did you come from ? How did you know we 
were here ? How did you get past the Indians ? 
What has become of the Indians anyway ? ” 

These and a score of similar questions were asked 
by both boys with breathless rapidity. 

“ He Injin ! ” answered Caesar, finally getting a 
chance to speak. “ Golly ! how him run when me 
shoot cannon gun at him ! Him skeer ’mos’ to def, 
an’ me ’mos’ die laffin’ at him. He ain’t come back 
no mo’.” 

“A cannon?” questioned Gale, catching at this 
word. “ Where did you get a cannon ? Whose 
cannon ? ” 

“ Whar me get 11m ? On de Regret ob cose. 
Marse Almy he say, bettah gib um one shot wif 
blank-ety catridge, fo’ luck. So me gib um. Bang ! 
Hen dey run like Hayti man run when de corporal 
gittin after him.” 

“The Egret! Mr. Almy ! Hayti ! Well it beats 
my understanding ! ” said Gale. “ I expect the air 
of this place makes one thick-headed. So let ’s get 
outside. You go up through the hole, Aleck, and 
we ’ll meet you on the rocks. The back way is too 
slow for me.” 




JOY TREADS ON THE HEELS OF DESPAIR. 2$ l 

Thus saying, Gale, who being already soaked, did 
not mind the wetting, took a straight header into 
the green depths, and shot out under the portal. As 
lie rose to the surface with a snort and a shout, he 
almost bumped his bead against a boat, in which a 
most anxious-looking gentleman held the oars. 

“ Gale Ellicot, by all that ’s wonderful ! ” 

“ Mr. Almy ! Hurray ! ! ” 

Then Aleck Penrose and Caesar appeared on the 
shore, as though by magic. A minute later they 
were all in the boat, and, with lusty strokes that 
somewhat relieved his overflowing joy, Caesar was 
speeding them toward the good yacht Egret , that 
lay at anchor but a few hundred yards offshore. 

That evening was one of such happiness as rarely 
comes to mortals more than once in a lifetime. It 
was so filled with questions, and the intensely inter- 
esting answers that they drew forth, that it was 
long past midnight ere any one of the happy party 
even thought of turning in. Mr. Almy had to tell 
of his experience in running away with his own 
yacht, and of navigating her over hundreds of miles 
of almost unknown waters with but a single man in 
his crew. As they at length neared the island, that 


252 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


Caesar found no difficulty in recognizing, they met a 
fleet of Indian canoes. To give the savages a whole- 
some scare, as well as in the hope of attracting the 
attention of those whom they sought, Mr. Almy had 
allowed Caesar to fire a blank cartridge from the 
yacht’s brass saluting cannon. Then they landed, 
and had almost given up all hope of finding the lads, 
when Caesar bethought himself of the cavern, and 
begged permission to explore it. 

The negro had to tell of his experience at sea, 
during a night of storm, on an overturned canoe, of 
how he had navigated a turtle, been taken for a 
mermaid, and lassoed, and of how, after serving two 
days as a private soldier, he had been made an offi- 
cer. He also told of Captain Staver’s unregretted 
death, and of his own fears lest he should never 
again see his beloved “ Sir Rich.” 

Gale told of the wonderful discovery of the coral 
ship with its long-hidden wealth of silver and gold. 
He ended with : “ It is so hard to get up, that I am 
afraid we can’t recover much more of the treasure. 
I don’t care though, for I ’ve got more than enough 
now to lift the mortgage on my home, even with 
Aleck’s and Caesar’s shares taken out. 


JOY TREADS ON THE HEELS OF DESPAIR. 253 

Of course Mr. Almy was intensely interested in 
all this, and when, at his request, Gale told him of 
the dear little Rockpine home, and the mortgage 
held by Abel Gripmore, he declared that they must 
recover at least enough of the treasure to support 
that home and its inmates for some years after the 
mortgage was lifted. “ You hope to go to college, 
don’t you ? ” he asked of Gale. 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ And Aleck here must have an education ? ” 

“ Certainly, sir.” 

“Very well, then, we must look to the Coral Ship 
to satisfy the Bursar. As for Caesar’s share 

But Caesar, begging to be excused for interrupting, 
positively refused to accept any share of the re- 
covered treasure, declaring that every pesata of it 
belonged to “ Sir Rich Allason.” At the same time 
Aleck thought if his share should amount to so vast 
a sum as one thousand dimes, he should be more 
than satisfied. 


CHAPTER XXXIY. 


HOW BLACK C^ESAE’S PLEDGE WAS KEDEEMED. 

X the following morning the golden vase, 



which Mr. Almy pronounced to be worth at 
least a thousand dollars, and the seven bars of silver 
already recovered, were brought off to the Egret , 
then, leaving Aleck on board to look after the 
yacht, the others visited the cavern, where Mr. 
Almy, peering down through the green waters, set 
eyes for the first time on the Coral Ship. 

“ It is certainly the most remarkable thing I ever 
saw,” he said, as he finally withdrew his fascinated 
gaze and rose to his feet. “ It is a veritable ship of 
living coral. While it seems a pity to destroy any- 
thing so curiously interesting, it would be a still 
greater pity to leave it without an effort to recover 
the treasure that is undoubtedly hidden within its 
massive walls. I propose, therefore, that we blow 
it up.” 


254 


HOW BLACK CESAR'S PLEDGE WAS REDEEMED. 


“ How ? ” asked Gale, wonderingly. 

“ Well, I should say that about twenty pounds of 
powder in a water-tight canister, and judiciously 
placed, would at least serve to effect an entrance,” 
answered Mr. Almy. 

“ But how could we touch it off down there ? ” 
asked Gale, who had never witnessed any submarine 
work of the kind. 

“That may prove difficult; but I believe it can 
be done with the aid of an electric battery that I 
have on board.” 

Besides being interested in all scientific matters, 
Mr. Almy was possessed of considerable mechanical 
skill. By night he had his arrangements perfected, 
and all hands awaited impatiently the coming of 
another day for the trial of their experiment. 

That evening, as they sat on deck enjoying the 
glorious tropical moonlight, and trying to realize 
that, as April was not yet gone by, the North was 
still covered with ice and snow, Gale turned to 
Caesar and asked him if he had ever seen snow. 

“ No, me nebber see um.” 

“ It will be fun to see what you think of it, then, 
when we first get North.” 


256 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


“ Me gettin’ Norf ? ” 

“ Of course. You are going to Boston with us.” 

“Ef yo’ say in’ de word, Sail Rich, ob cose me 
bleeged to go; but me bery sorry. Me like here 
better ; but when Sah Rich say go, Caesar mus’ go. 
My great-granf odder say all he chilleen blong to 
Sah Rich Allason forebber. He say : ‘ Sah Rich wise 
man, good man. Yo’ do alway what him say. Yo’ 
die fo him, mebbe, ef him sayin’ so.’ So me bleeged 
to do what my granfodder tellin’ me.” 

“ Well, of course I am not ‘ Sir Rich,’ as you call 
him. If I were I would n’t ask you to do anything 
so absurd as that, and even if I did you would have 
too much sense to obey me ; but ” 

“No, sah! No, sah! Me got no sense, but fo 
doin’ what yo’ say. Yo’ sayin’ die, den me die 
quick. Same time yo’ sayin’ do somefin else ; den me 
do somefin else,” interrupted the negro, earnestly. 

“ I declare, I believe you would even lay down 
your life if I asked it of you,” replied Gale, touched 
by the evident devotion of this humble friend ; “ but, 
as I shall never ask such a thing, we won’t have to 
put your willingness to the test. I hope you will go 
with us, though, to see my country and my people, 


HOW BLACK CESAR'S PLEDGE WAS REDEEMED. 257 

aud the dear home your old treasure ship is going 
to save from destruction.” 

“ S’posin’ yo’ say so, me go,” answered the young 
negro, quietly. 

The next morning Aleck was left, as before, to 
look after the yacht, while the others, taking their 
prepared apparatus for destruction with them, went 
ashore and into the cavern, for the purpose of blow- 
ing up the Coral Ship. 

In about an hour Aleck heard a muffled explosion. 
Twenty minutes later, while he was still wondering 
what effect had been produced, he was surprised to 
see the boat coming back to the yacht. His surprise 
was increased, when it drew near, by the sight of 
Mr. Almy rowing, and Gale, with a very pale face 
on which were streaks of blood, half reclining in the 
stern. 

“ What has happened, sir ? Where is Caesar ? ” he 
asked anxiously. 

“Help me get this poor fellow on board, and 
don’t ask any questions just yet,” answered the 
yacht-owner in a voice that trembled with emotion. 

“ He has done what he said he would. He has 
died for my sake,” murmured Gale as, with an arm 


258 the coral ship. 

about his friend’s neck, he walked feebly to the 
cabin companion-way. 

After the injured lad had been got to bed, and 
the bleeding from many cuts on his head had been 
stanched, Mr. Almy administered an opiate that 
quickly put him to sleep. Then he told Aleck 
Penrose all that he knew of the tragic event of the 
morning. 

“Both Gale and Caesar went down and located 
the mine well inside of the ship,” he said. “ When 
everything was arranged to their satisfaction, and I 
had made sure that the battery was in good working 
order, I turned on the current, and the charge was 
successfully fired. For some minutes the water was 
so filled with smoke and debris that we could see 
nothing, but Ellicot was so impatient to learn the 
result of our experiment, that he could not wait for 
it to become perfectly clear. He took a header as 
soon as the outline of the ship came dimly into view, 
and a moment later the ship itself seemed to col- 
lapse. At the same instant the water became so 
thick again that nothing could be distinguished 
from where we lay watching for Ellicot’s return. 
Just then Caesar uttered a cry of ‘ Ohe, Sah Rich ! 


HOW BLACK CAESAR' S PLEDGE WAS REDEEMED. 259 

I cornin’ ! ’ dove into the water, and disappeared. A 
few seconds later Ellicot came to the surface, so 
nearly exhausted that I had to drag him out. Caesar 
never came up again. We waited until the water 
cleared, but could see nothing of him. Ellicot would 
have gone down again to try and recover the body, 
but I would not let him. He would only have 
sacrificed his own life uselessly, for he was too weak 
to swim a stroke.” 

“ But what do you suppose became of poor Caesar, 
sir ? ” asked Aleck, in an awed tone. 

“ As well as I could gather, from Ellicot’s account, 
the ship’s sides seemed to be blown out so that he 
could see right through her. He was part way in, 
and pulling at something that looked as though it 
might prove valuable, when, all at once, the deck 
fell on him, pinning him down so that he could not 
move hand or foot. Just as he was losing con- 
sciousness, he felt that he was again free. As, with 
a last effort, he slipped out of the deadly trap, he 
caught a glimpse of Caesar bearing the whole enor- 
mous weight on his shoulders, but bent nearly 
double beneath it. That is all we know. I don’t 
think there is any doubt, however, that the negro 


26 o 


THE CORAL SHIP. 


realized what had happened as he knelt at my side, 
and went deliberately down there to save Ellicot’s 
life at the expense of his own. He must have ex- 
erted superhuman strength in that supreme effort, 
and it must have failed him the instant he saw that 
Ellicot was free. Taking it all in all it was, to my 
mind, about as fine a bit of true heroism as this 
world has ever seen.” 

Shortly afterward, Mr. Almy and Aleck, leaving 
Gale quietly sleeping, went for one more look at the 
scene of the recent tragedy. As the wealthy yacht- 
owner and the humble cabin boy knelt together in 
the great cavern, and gazed down through the mys- 
terious green waters, they saw far beneath them only 
a confused heap of coral. It bore no trace of resem- 
blance to a ship, or any other work of man. To 
them, however, it was a splendid tomb, given shape 
and beauty by the brave deed of its latest occupant. 

When they came away, they rolled a great stone 
over the entrance to the rocky shaft through which 
they had left the cavern, thus effectually concealing 
it from future observation. Then they returned to 
the Egret , lifted her anchor, spread her snowy sails, 
and, turning her prow northward, glided gently 


HOW BLACK CAS SAKS PLEDGE WAS REDEEMED. 26 1 


away from Black Caesar’s Island. So strong and 
steady was the breeze that bore them onward, that 
by the time Gale Ellicot awoke from his strength- 
restoring sleep, he was well on the way toward his 
distant northern home, and the Coral Ship, with its 
priceless treasure of human gratitude, self-sacrifice, 
and bravery, was but a cherished memory. 

THE END. 


7 0 5 
















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